Encinitas Municipal Code § 18.7 Backflow Prevention

No person is permitted to cause, permit, facilitate or maintain an actual or potential cross-connection or any type of connection that permits an actual or potential backflow of water to the District's system. All installations are subject to inspection and regulation by the District for the purpose of avoiding the possibility of backflow. Backflow prevention devices shall be installed by customers when required by State law or regulation, the State Health Department, or by the District, in accordance with this Policy and State law or regulation (including the CCCPH). The cost thereof shall be borne by the customer.

No person is permitted to install, maintain, or allow a metered water service connection to any premises served by the District unless the District system is protected in conformance with applicable State law or regulation (including the CCCPH) and this Policy. Any person who is required to install an approved BPA pursuant must install, maintain, inspect, and test such assembly in accordance with applicable State law or regulation (including the CCCPH) and this Policy at the customer's own expense and within the time specified for installation. Every BPA required by law, regulation, or this Policy must be of model and size approved by the District. Failure, refusal, or inability on the part of the customer to install said assembly or assemblies constitutes grounds for discontinuing water service to such metered or non-metered water service connections until such assembly or assemblies have been properly installed.

All customer systems and premises shall be open for inspection at all reasonable times to authorized representatives of the District to enable the District to ascertain the existence of cross-connections or other structural or sanitary hazards, including violations of the cross-connection rules and regulations in this Policy. When such a condition becomes known, the General Manager or designee shall deny or discontinue service to the premises, in accordance with this Policy. Water service will be discontinued until the customer has corrected the condition(s) in conformance with State laws and District requirements relating to plumbing and water supplies, and with regulations adopted pursuant thereto.

(a) Customers shall install BPAs as required in this section. BPAs installed must be no less protective than that which is commensurate with the degree of hazard at a user premises, as specified in this Policy and the CCCPH (see CCCPH Appendix D) and as determined based on the results of the hazard assessment conducted pursuant to CCCPH Section 3.2.1. The hazard assessment conducted pursuant to CCCPH Section 3.2.1, once complete, is incorporated herein by reference to establish hazard levels for which customers must account.

(b) Customers shall at all times protect the District system from high hazard cross-connections through premises containment, through the use of air gap separation ("AG") or a reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assembly ("RP"). Customers shall comply with any additional requirements or degrees of protection for particularly high hazard cross-connections set forth in CCCPH Appendix D.

(c) A swivel-ell may be appropriate for use instead of an AG, subject to District approval at District's discretion, if all of the criteria listed in CCCPH Section 3.2.2(d) are met.

(d) Unless an exception applies, customers shall protect the District system with no less than double check valve backflow prevention assembly ("DC") protection for a user premises with a fire protection system, within 10 years of the effective date of the CCCPH. Exceptions are as follows:

(1) A high hazard cross-connection fire protection system (including those that may utilize chemical additions or an auxiliary water supply) must have at least RP protection.

(2) A BPA is not needed for a low hazard fire protection system on a residential user premises if the District determines all of the criteria listed in CCCPH Section 3.2.2(e)(3) are satisfied.

(3) If the District identifies alternatives in its Plan, pursuant to CCCPH Section 3.2.2(e)(2), for existing premises that cannot timely comply with DC protection requirements, such alternatives may apply unless the SWRCB disapproves.

Spill-resistant pressure vacuum breaker backsiphonage prevention assembly ("SVB") may not be used for premises containment. Pressure vacuum breaker backsiphonage prevention assembly ("PVB") may only be used for roadway right-of-way irrigation systems as premises containment where there is no potential for backpressure.

(a) Each AG must meet the requirements in Table 1, Minimum Air Gaps for Generally used Plumbing Fixtures, page 4 of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) A112.1.2-2012(R2017) (See Appendix B of CCCPH).

(b) Each replaced or newly installed pressure vacuum breaker backsiphonage prevention assembly ("PVB"), spill-resistant pressure vacuum breaker backsiphonage prevention assembly ("SVB"), DC, and RP must be approved through, both laboratory and field evaluation tests performed in accordance with at least one of the following: (1) Standards found in Chapter 10 of the Manual of Cross-Connection Control, Tenth Edition, published by the University of Southern California Foundation for Cross-Connection Control and Hydraulic Research; or (2) certification requirements for BPAs in the Standards of ASSE International current as of 2022 that include ASSE 1015-2021 for the DC, ASSE 1048-2021 for the DCDA & DCDA-II, ASSE 1013-2021 for the RP, and ASSE 1047-2021 for the RPDA & RPDA-II and must have the IYT mark. BPAs must not be modified following approval. A BPA tester shall notify the District if a BPA has been modified from the CCCPH Section 3.3-1(b) approval.

(a) BPAs must be installed in accordance with any and all criteria set forth in CCCPH Section 3.3.2.

(b) Except as otherwise provided and required by the CCCPH, approved BPAs shall be installed and located as close as practical to the customer's service connection, or at a location approved by the General Manager or designee, and all approved BPAs shall be installed before the first branch line leading off the service.

(Res. No. 2024-05, 5/15/2024)