It’s a digital world, and we’re all living in it. But how does the digital world intersect with the world of water utilities, backflow prevention, and cross-connection control? Often, under less-than-ideal circumstances.
In a recent webinar, “Different by Design: How the Right Backflow Software Improves Safety & Compliance,” HydroCorp’s Gary McLaren and Tina Erickson of La Crosse, Wisconsin, discuss the role of software and actionable data in a cross-connection control program.
Hazardous Program Gaps
You’ve heard it before, and you’ll hear it again: What you don’t know can (and will) hurt you. Knowledge gaps within your system and inefficient processes create risks to your water supply and your community. These gaps can include:
- Low backflow test submission rate
- Missed surveys
- Unresolved failed backflow test submissions
- inconsistent follow-up and enforcement
- Unknown containment protection
A program that lacks consistent data, clear processes, and detailed tracking misses the mark when it comes to keeping your water supply safe. You need to track:
- Unprotected cross-connections
- Incorrect backflow preventer installations
- Backflow assembly test results
- Corrected violations
- Compliance records
- Facility information, including degree of hazard
- Communication records of non-compliant owners
When you don’t know what communication has been sent and when, what violations your program has identified, or where corrective action has been taken, you’re forced to operate blindly. What if you had all the information you needed to secure your system at your fingertips?
A Case Study in La Crosse
HydroCorp started working with the City of La Crosse to develop and implement a brand new cross-connection control program in 2010. How did HydroCorp help?
- Develop the program plan and collaborate to obtain adoption by city council
- Conduct recurring cross-connection control surveys
- Support active enforcement measures
- Provide tailored public awareness and education materials
The results? We identified and provided guidance on the elimination of thousands of cross-connection hazards. Now, the City of La Crosse has comprehensive cross-connection control records for more than 15,000 service connections.
And La Crosse’s cross-connection control program continues today. Erickson explains how, despite little new construction, property rehabilitation and constant change in commercial and industrial facilities creates new cross-connections that the utility needs to identify and correct on an ongoing basis. “Just when you might feel like everything’s been caught up, additional cross-connections may be found since something has changed since we were last on-site,” she says.
Day by day, Tina and the utility clerks on her team access HydroCorp’s proprietary software, HydroSoft, to update property information and stay informed on program operations. With everything in one place, they can see locations that are non-compliant, actions that have already been taken, and what’s coming next.
Data, Communication, & Software
An efficient and effective cross-connection control program is marked by a mixture of on-site activity and good data—both of which depend on consistent communication. The program must have teeth: “We’ll disconnect if [water customers] don’t come into compliance,” Erickson explains. But knowing who is non-compliant—and how and when they’ve been notified—requires diligent tracking within a reliable system.
The database your utility uses to track program activities should clearly lay out the next step toward compliance—whether that’s the next notice or an enforcement action—based on the violation, the facility type, and other qualifying characteristics. You should have instant access to details on every service connection throughout your system: facility categorization, the location of any cross-connections on the premise, what each backflow preventer protects, and validation of proper backflow preventer installation.
Good data rewards public water systems with efficiency in program operations and safe water throughout your community.
Ready to learn more about how HydroCorp can support your water system’s cross-connection control efforts?
