Utilities that serve large, metropolitan populations have more resources than most water systems. But they also have more to do. Just like in rural utilities, cross-connection control can quietly fall by the wayside until it’s forgotten. By the time sanitary surveys come around, non-compliance looms, or worse, a backflow event and resulting contamination occurs.
10 Gaps in Cross-Connection Control Programs & How to Fill Them
Attention Divided
Even with more in-field and back-office staff, the larger system, population, and number of service connections mean attention and labor are often more divided than ever.
As in any utility, staff in metropolitan water systems wear a lot of hats. Many larger cities have the team necessary to conduct surveys and manage some level of administrative burden associated with cross-connection control, but with a larger system comes more responsibilities and increased complexity. The real problem comes in the form of finding the time to ensure the program is conducted thoroughly and properly.
Too Many Hats
When your staff try to juggle cross-connection control program activities in addition to day-to-day operations, regular maintenance, and more, something has to give. Your back-office team may be splitting their attention between billing, support, and data management. Maybe you have meter technicians who fit in cross-connection surveys, taking unorganized notes on a loose slip of paper. It makes it back to the water operator eventually, right?
The serious man hours that go into a cross-connection control program, from surveys in the field to administrative and data management, aren’t always attainable, even with a large utility staff. Without the proper time and attention to gathering data in the field and managing it at the office, both the quantity and quality of what you know suffer.
Data Entry & Knowledge Gaps
Bad information in is bad information out. And that puts large utilities at risk of contamination and non-compliance—not to mention, the increased risk of contamination. Bad data starts in the field, with less-than-thorough surveys and incomplete documentation. It continues in the office, where repeated manual data entry creates ample opportunity for mistakes. At the very least, duplicated efforts take staff attention away from mission-critical responsibilities.
Mismatched data between different systems—your billing system, your backflow testing system, your GIS, and the thousands of records that exist between them—make data compilation and proper documentation stressful at best and virtually impossible at worst. Trying to shoehorn cross-connection control data into an existing without the right infrastructure for it can lead to even more problems. Plus, transfer of information between departments takes more time, introducing even more roadblocks in compliance and beyond.
And when you can’t trust your data, a whole host of questions come up: Is the information we have on this facility accurate? Are we missing a backflow preventer at this site because it doesn’t exist? Or because we don’t have a record of it and have never looked at it? What’s the containment status of this or that facility? When was the last time we were there?
Compliance Woes
System confusion and knowledge gaps cause problems downstream, too. Compliance (or, in many cases, non-compliance) is no joke. Without complete, accurate, and recent records, you can’t bring your water system into compliance with state regulations. And, often, it only becomes apparent upon your next sanitary survey. And, the reality is, your utility staff probably spend more time trying to determine whether the information on hand is correct than actually preparing for the sanitary survey itself.
Public Perception
The average water customer has never heard of cross-connection control, but backflow events, contamination, and boil water notices cause intense and lasting reputational damage to utilities. Especially for large cities that face greater public and regulatory scrutiny, this damage is often irreparable—or close to it.
With larger utilities comes larger marketing and public relations teams. But this isn’t enough to drive the public awareness needed for an effective cross-connection control program. Generic information doesn’t educate water customers and doesn’t help them protect their drinking water. To position cross-connection control as a public health initiative, public relations staff need to provide specific, engaging, and detailed information. It’s about letting customers know everyone has a role in protecting the community’s water supply.
Breaking the Cycle
These challenges all feed into one another. It’s rare that I speak with cities who have complete teams dedicated to cross-connection control management. With so many competing priorities, most staff pull double duty to deliver service to their large populations. Even with more staff and more technology, gaps exist, and missing information puts your system and your compliance status at risk.
Tech Support
Simplifying your tech stack means a smoother cross-connection control program, safer drinking water, and a compliant system. Many large utilities use multiple software platforms (that often don’t exchange data effectively or at all) for their day-to-day operations. Software can only keep track of data you first identify in the field. The inherent risk is that you then miss real-world data.
Many cities, once sanitary survey season rolls around, realize they don’t know what they don’t know. They’re missing records ranging from backflow preventer inventories to test results to critical survey data. Metropolitan areas often need to rethink what they’re doing on-site and how they utilize technology to support their programs.
Hiring In or Out
Some cities may need to hire at least 10 (or more) full-time employees for cross-connection control compliance alone. Even for the largest cities, this may not be feasible. The amount of work, in the field and out, can be huge for cities with hundreds of thousands of service connections. And most cities can’t hire people to focus solely on cross-connection control; other responsibilities must factor in.
A Turnkey Partner
Cities like Detroit and Toledo have partnered with HydroCorp to conduct a turnkey cross-connection control program for them. From logistics to sending postal notifications and on-site surveys to data management and compliance reporting, these cities don’t have to worry about administrative or on-site logistics. Contracting with an expert can be more cost-effective while providing peace of mind that your system is safe and compliant. Plus, you’ll always be ready for the next sanitary survey.
Ready to learn more about how HydroCorp can support your utility’s cross-connection control efforts?
