(a) No water service connection to any premises shall be installed or maintained by the water purveyor unless the water supply is protected as required by state law and regulation (Chapter 17-555(b1), Florida Administrative Code) and this article. Service of water to any premises shall be discontinued by the water purveyor if a backflow prevention device required by this article is not installed, tested and maintained, or if it is found that a backflow prevention device has been removed, bypassed, or if an unprotected cross-connection exists on the premises. Service will not be restored until such conditions or defects are corrected.
(b) It is the responsibility of the customer and/or his or her designees to determine the size of the backflow prevention assembly. In order to adequately handle the maximum flow of the water meter, the assembly should be the same size as the meter or larger. It is recognized that if the service line is sized smaller than the meter, the assembly should be the same size as the service line.
(c) All residential potable water services with 1-1/2" meters or larger shall have a reduced pressure assembly (RPZ) installed.
(d) All non-residential potable water services shall have a reduced pressure assembly installed.
(e) All new residential potable water meters 1" or less must be equipped with a residential dual check valve (RDC).
(f) All residential 5/8" and 1" meters with access to a master-metered reclaimed water irrigation system which is not isolated from the potable water system shall have a residential dual check valve.
(g) All temporary construction meters shall have a reduced measure assembly (RPZ) installed by the contractor. A combination 5/8" hydrant meter with a built in backflow preventer can be provided by the city at a higher cost for pressure cleaning or non-construction projects.
(h) Dedicated closed fire sprinkler systems shall have as a minimum a double check detector assembly.
(i) Fire sprinkler systems with a pressure/storage tank, booster pumps, chemical injection, or any auxiliary water supply shall have a reduced pressure detector assembly.
(j) The customer's system should be open for inspection at all reasonable times to authorized representatives of the utilities department to determine whether cross-connections or other structural or sanitary hazards, including violations of these regulations, exist. When such a condition becomes known, the director of utilities shall deny or immediately discontinue service to the premises by providing for a physical break in the service line until the customer has corrected the condition in conformance with state and city laws relating to plumbing and water supplies and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto.
(k) An approved backflow prevention device shall be installed on all temporary water services that are supplied by fire hydrant meter installations. The following requirements shall apply:
(1) Only city personnel with the appropriate authority can set, lock, move, and relocate fire hydrant meters.
(2) In the case of short term installations, ten (10) days or shorter durations, the city shall furnish a combined meter and backflow prevention device for normal flow volume requirements. For larger flows requiring more than three (3) inch meter the customer shall supply the backflow prevention device for the meter installation.
(3) In the case of long-term installations, over ten (10) days period, the customer will be required to supply his/her own back flow prevention device.
(4) The backflow prevention devices shall be tested and approved by a certified plumbing contractor certified by the State of Florida and/or approved by the city, as consistent with the intent of this section.
(l) An approved backflow prevention device shall be installed on all new multi-family and commercial construction(s) and renovation(s). The owner of such installation(s), or the designee of the owner, shall report the installation to the Utilities Director within five (5) days after the installation.
(m) An approved backflow prevention device shall be installed on each service line to a customer's water system at or near the property line or immediately inside the building being served and, in all cases, before the first branch line leading off the service line, whenever the following conditions exist:
(1) In the case of premises having an auxiliary water supply which is not or may not be safe bacteriologically or [in] chemical quality and which is not acceptable as an additional source by the director of utilities. The public water system shall be protected against backflow from the premises by installing a backflow prevention device in the service line appropriate to the degree of hazard.
(2) In the case of premises upon which any industrial fluids or any other objectionable substance is handled in such a fashion as to create an actual or potential hazard to the public water system, the public system shall be protected against backflow from the premises by installing a backflow prevention device in the service line appropriate to the degree of hazard. This shall include the handling of process waters and waters originating from the utility system which have been subject to deterioration in quality.
(3) In the case of premises having internal cross-connections that cannot be permanently corrected and controlled, intricate plumbing and piping arrangements, or where entry to all portions of the premises is not readily accessible for inspection purposes, making it impracticable or impossible to ascertain whether or not dangerous cross-connections exist, the public water system shall be protected against backflow from the premises by installing a backflow prevention device in the service line. The type of protective device required shall depend upon the degree of hazard which exists, as follows:
a. In the case of any premises where there is an auxiliary water supply as stated in this section, the public water system shall be protected by an approved air-gap separation or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention device.
b. In the case of any premises where there is water or some substance that would be objectionable but not hazardous to health if introduced into the public water system, the public water system shall be protected by an approved double check valve assembly.
(4) In the case of any premises where there is any material dangerous to health which is handled in such a fashion as to create an actual or potential hazard to the public water system the public water system shall be protected by an approved air-gap separation or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention device. Examples of premises where these conditions may exist include wastewater treatment plants, wastewater pumping stations, chemical manufacturing plants, hospitals, mortuaries and metal plating plants.
(5) In the case of any premises where there are “uncontrolled” cross-connections, either actual or potential, the public water system shall be protected by an approved air-gap separation or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention device at the service connection.
(6) In the case of any premises where, because of security requirements or other prohibitions or restrictions, it is impossible or impractical to make a complete in-plant cross-connection survey, the public water system shall be protected against backflow or back-siphonage from the premises by the installation of a backflow prevention device in the service line. In this case, maximum protection will be required; that is, an approved air-gap separation or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention device shall be installed in each service to the premises.
(7) An approved backflow prevention device of the type designated shall be installed on each water service connection to the following types of facilities. This list is presented as a guideline and should not be construed as being complete.
Abbreviations are as follows:
R.P. —Reduced pressure principle backflow preventer
D.C.V.A. —Double check valve assembly
P.V.B. —Pressure vacuum breaker
A.V.B. —Atmospheric vacuum breaker
Type of FacilityMinimum Type of Protection
Automotive repair facilities R.P.
Breweries, distilleries, bottling plants R.P.
Car wash with recycling system and/or wax educator [applicator] R.P.
Film laboratory or processing plants R.P.
Fire hydrants D.C.V.A. (?)
Fire sprinkler lines, without pumps D.C.V.A.
Fire sprinkler lines, with booster pumps R.P.
Food or beverage plants R.P.
Hospitals, clinics, medical buildings R.P.
Irrigation systems (Non-residential) R.P. or D.C.V.A
Laundries and dry cleaning plants R.P.
Machine tool plants (health or system hazard) R.P.
Machine tool plants (pollution hazard) R.P.
Metal processing plant (health or system hazard) R.P.
Metal processing plant (pollution hazard) R.P.
Morgues or mortuaries R.P.
Packing houses or rendering plants R.P.
Paper products plants R.P.
Pesticides (exterminating companies) A.G. or R.P.
Petroleum processing plants R.P.
Petroleum storage yards (health or system hazard) R.P.
Petroleum storage yards (pollutional hazard) R.P.
Pharmaceutical or cosmetic plants R.P.
Piers, docks or waterfront facilities R.P.
Radioactive material plants R.P.
Sand and gravel plants R.P.
Sewage treatment plants R.P.
Sewage pumping stations R.P.
Swimming pools with piped fill line (at pool) A.G. or R.P.
Tall buildings over three (3) stories R.P.
Veterinary establishments R.P.
(8) For all premises (including residential) in areas serviced by irrigation water from a wastewater reuse system, the public water system shall be protected by an approved double check valve assembly at the service connection.
(n) Any backflow prevention device required herein shall be of a model and size approved by the director of utilities. The term “approved backflow prevention device” shall mean a device that has been manufactured in full conformance with the standards established by the American Water Works Association and entitled “AWWA C510 Double Check Valve Backflow Prevention Assembly” or “AWWA C511 Reduced Pressure Principle Backflow Prevention Assembly” and which has met completely the laboratory and field performance specifications of the Foundation for Cross Connection Control and Hydraulic Research of the University of Southern California established by the Manual of Cross-Connection Control, 8th Edition, dated June 1988, or the most current issue.
(1) Such AWWA and FCCC and HR standards and specifications have been adopted by the director of utilities. Final approval shall be evidenced by a certificate of approval issued by an approved testing laboratory certifying full compliance with such AWWA standards and FCCC and HR specifications.
(2) It shall be the duty of the customer-user at any premises where backflow prevention devices are installed, to have certified inspections and operational tests made at least once per year. In those instances where the director deems the hazard to be great enough, he may require certified inspections at more frequent intervals. These inspections and tests shall be at the expense of the customer and shall be performed by the device manufacturer's representative, or by a certified tester approved by the director of utilities.
(3) These devices shall be repaired, overhauled, or replaced at the expense of the customer-user whenever such devices are found to be defective. Records of such tests, repairs and overhauls, shall be submitted to the director of utilities.
(4) All presently installed backflow prevention devices which do not meet the requirements of this section but were approved devices for the purposes described herein at the time of installation and which have been properly maintained shall, except for the inspection maintenance requirements, be excluded from the requirements of those rules so long as the director of utilities is assured that they will satisfactorily protect the public potable water supply system. Wherever the existing device is moved from the present location or requires more than minimum maintenance, or when the director of utilities finds that the maintenance constitutes a hazard to health, the unit shall be replaced by a backflow prevention device meeting the requirements of this section.
(Ord. No. 90-51, § 1, 11-7-90; Ord. No. 01-28, § 2, 7-3-01; Ord. No. 13-032, § 2, 11-9-13)
