In all public water systems, undetected and unprotected cross-connections exist. The inherent hydraulic problem of backflow incidents complicates this reality. These cross-connections can be found in residential and commercial buildings, industrial facilities, healthcare facilities, and anywhere else there’s a connection to your public water system. And don’t be fooled into thinking residential buildings or smaller facilities can’t have high-hazard cross-connections.
Inspections provide validation that a cross-connection is isolated with the proper and code-approved backflow preventer. Too often, discrepancies between the current system and true compliance and protection are only identified during a cross-connection inspection.
In a recent webinar, “Safeguarding Public Water: Insights from 25,000 Cross-Connection Inspections,” HydroCorp’s Gary McLaren analyzed recent data from onsite surveys to determine what public water systems face with cross-connections and how to address common problems (hint: surveys play a big role).
The Cross-Connection Inspection Process
“The reality is that cross-connections lurk in your community,” McLaren says. “By lurk, I mean they are undetected—out of sight, out of mind.” Inspections provide critical insight into the safety of your water system—and a cross-connection inspection is more than just backflow preventer testing. These inspections are significantly more in-depth than backflow preventer testing, and corrective actions can be more significant, too. Commonly, corrections include things like replumbing or installing a missing backflow preventer.
Cross-connection inspections, or surveys, begin with the notification of a building owner or occupant. The surveyor conducts an inspection, beginning at the meter or public water service connection. Depending on state regulations and the local cross-connection control program, they conduct a visual survey of all external and/or internal connections and points of use to determine whether unprotected cross-connections exist.
The surveyor documents the containment status and all existing forms of backflow prevention, establishing the site’s state of compliance or non-compliance. If there is any non-compliance, they inform the building owner in writing of the issue and any required corrective action. Finally, the municipality conducts a follow-up compliance inspection to verify violations have been corrected and the building is in compliance by a set date. If needed, the public water system can proceed with non-compliance enforcement actions.
What Data Do Cross-Connection Surveys Yield?
Cross-connection inspections provide a treasure trove of data on the state of a public water system and the safety of cross-connections across a community. These key data points include:
- Owner and facility information
- Degree of hazard
- Service line material
- Approximate location of cross-connection
- Assigned inspection frequency
- Compliance or non-compliance status
- Inventory of facility backflow prevention
- Backflow prevention assembly test documentation
- Secondary water sources
Your cross-connection inspection should answer key questions about the security of your public water system:
- Are service connections contained?
- Are irrigation systems properly isolated with backflow preventers?
- Have you categorized high-hazard connections?
- What visual surveys should be required in the future?
- Have you verified corrections?
“We all want to be on the boat of preemptively eliminating cross-connections vs. responding to them,” McLaren says. That’s what surveys bring to the table.
Insights from 25,000 Cross-Connection Inspections
HydroCorp’s team conducts tens of thousands of cross-connection surveys each year; we compiled data from more than 25,000 inspections to identify trends and determine what public water systems should be most aware of in their own program. These inspections included almost 15,000 residential buildings and just under 9,000 commercial buildings. It’s important to remember that, by default, there will be more residential connections to your system than commercial or other types of connections. State regulations may or may not require surveys of residential buildings.
From those 25,000 inspections, we collected almost 100,000 data points that include inventory of backflow preventers, corrective actions, and violations. Of that, we identified more than 9,400 violations—some have been corrected, and some are still in the process of being corrected. The key takeaway here: Where we look for unprotected cross-connections, we find them.
The most common backflow preventers our surveyors saw in the field were:
- Air gaps
- Hose bibb vacuum breakers
- Reduced pressure zone assemblies
- Pressure vacuum breaker assemblies (for irrigation systems)
One of the most common unprotected cross-connections identified through our inspections relates to irrigation systems, which are considered high-hazard connections. We often found unprotected hose connection fixtures—which, to be corrected, require a simple, easy fix (a thread-on vacuum breaker). Almost 30% of irrigation systems inspected required some kind of corrective action.
What Now?
This data is meant to be a window into common violations and cross-connection control methodologies for public water systems. Ultimately, you don’t know what problems are facing your system without these inspections within your own community. “Overall, the activity of cross-connection inspections results in identifying those lurking, unprotected cross-connections,” McLaren explains.
The purpose of inspections is to find hazards and address them before they create dangerous problems for your community and your system. And, McLaren asks, “Until we identify them, how can they be addressed?”
To get more insights from the data, view the webinar, “Safeguarding Public Water: Insights from 25,000 Cross-Connection Inspections,” on demand now.
HydroCorp’s team of experts have surveyed countless service connections in public water systems across the United States. We support municipalities and utilities as they seek to secure their community’s water and enhance safety. Take care of your cross-connection control inspections with the help of trained, certified, and experienced professionals. Learn more about how HydroCorp can support your water system today.
