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330 Chapter 9 Cross-Connection Control
staffing and education of personnel is a requirement to ensure that an effective program is
achieved. A recommended plan of action for a cross-connection control program should
include the following characteristics:
1. Establish a cross-connection control ordinance at the local level and have it ap-
proved by the water commissioners, town manager, etc., and ensure that it is
adopted by the town or private water authority as a legally enforceable document.
2. Conduct public information meetings that define the proposed cross-connection
control program, review the local cross-connection control ordinance, and answer
all questions that may arise concerning the reason for the program, why and how
the survey will be conducted, and the potential impact on industrial, commercial,
and residential water customers. Have state authorities and members of the local
press and radio attend the meeting.
3. Place written notices of the pending cross-connection control program in the
local newspaper, and have the local radio station make announcements about the
program as a public service notice.
4. Send employees who will administer the program to a course, or courses, on back-
flow tester certification, backflow survey courses, backflow device repair courses, etc.
5. Equip the water authority with a backflow device test kit.
6. Conduct meeting(s) with the local plumbing inspection people, building inspec-
tors, and licensed plumbers in the area who will be active in the inspection, instal-
lation, and repair of backflow devices. Inform them of the intent of the program
and the part that they can play in the successful implementation of the program.
7. Prior to initiating a survey of the established commercial and industrial installa-
tions, prepare a list of these establishments from existing records, then prioritize
the degree of hazard that they present to the water system: plating plants, hospitals,
car wash facilities, industrial metal finishing and fabrication, mortuaries, etc.
These will be the initial facilities inspected for cross-connections; inspection of
less hazardous installations follows.
8. Ensure that any new construction plans are reviewed by the water authority to as-
sess the degree of hazard and ensure that the proper backflow preventer is in-
stalled concurrent with the potential degree of hazard that the facility presents.
9. Establish a residential backflow protection program that will automatically en-
sure that a residential dual check backflow device is installed automatically at
every new residence.
10. As water meters are repaired or replaced at residences, ensure that a residential
dual check backflow preventer is set with the new or reworked water meter. Be
sure to have the owner address thermal expansion provisions.
11. Prepare a listing of all testable backflow devices in the community and ensure
that they are tested by certified test personnel at the time intervals consistent with
the local cross-connection control ordinance.
12. Prepare and submit testing documentation of backflow devices to the state au-
thority responsible for monitoring this data.
13. Survey all commercial and industrial facilities and require appropriate backflow
protection based on the containment philosophy and/or internal protection and
fixture outlet protection. Follow up to ensure that the recommended devices are
installed and tested on both an initial basis and a periodic basis consistent with
the cross-connection control ordinance.