§ 17-34. Control of backflow and cross connections.

(a)

Cross connection control; general policy:

(1)

Purpose. The purpose of this section is:

a.

To protect the board of public utilities water system from contamination or pollution by isolating within the customer's water system contaminants or pollutants which could backflow through the service connection into the board of public utilities water system.

b.

To promote the elimination and control of existing cross connections, actual or potential, between the board of public utilities potable water system and nonpotable water systems containing process fluids.

c.

To provide for the maintenance of a continuing program of cross connection control which will systematically and effectively prevent the contamination or pollution of all potable water systems.

d.

To coordinate the efforts of the public health department, city building inspection department, the water pollution control division, and the board of public utilities in regulating cross connections.

(2)

Responsibility.

a.

Board of public utilities. The board of public utilities' responsibility begins at the source, includes all of the distribution system, including the service connection, and ends at the point of delivery to the customer's water system (the downstream side of the meter). The board of public utilities has the responsibility of carrying out an effective cross connection control program.

b.

Health agency. The public health department has the responsibility for enforcing laws, rules, regulations and policies to insure a safe public potable water supply.

1.

Public potable water system. In the public potable water system, the public health department has the responsibility of insuring that the board of public utilities operates the public potable water system free of actual or potential sanitary hazards, including unprotected cross connections.

2.

Customer's water system. The public health department has the responsibility of insuring that the customer's potable water system is provided with an approved water supply and that the potable water system is maintained free of sanitary hazards.

c.

Building official. The building inspection division has the responsibility to not only review building plans and inspect plumbing as it is installed, but also, explicitly, to prevent cross connections from being designed and built into the structures within its jurisdiction.

d.

Water pollution control. The water pollution control department's responsibility shall be to protect the board of public utilities water system against contamination from sewage by prohibiting any connection between sewage and the water systems which provides the possibility of water contamination by means of back siphonage or direct connection.

(b)

Cross connections prohibited. No water service connection shall be installed or maintained by the board of public utilities unless the water service is protected as required by the laws and regulations of the state department of health and environment, the state statutes pertaining to public water supply, the board's cross connection control policy, this section, and any other applicable laws, rules or regulations.

(c)

Discontinuance of water service. The board of public utilities may disconnect, without notice, water service to any customer when the board discovers that the customer's water system is contaminating or has the potential of contaminating the board's water system.

(d)

Violations. It shall be unlawful for any person to:

(1)

Install or maintain a cross connection whereby contaminating materials may be discharged or backsiphoned into the board of public utilities water system.

(2)

Bypass or remove a backflow prevention assembly without the approval of the board of public utilities.

(Code 1988, § 17-29; Ord. No. 65696, § 1, 1-16-1992)