Parowan City Backflow Program

Protecting Our Water
 

Parowan City is dedicated to providing residents and customers with safe, clean drinking water.  Maintaining a backflow prevention program, to prevent contamination of culinary (drinking) water, is an essential component to accomplishing this goal.

The city and residents share a joint responsibility to ensure all areas of the water distribution system are adequately protected. Parowan City provides a safe, adequate water supply to the residents who in turn maintain their plumbing systems in strict compliance with state and local ordinances, requirements, codes and policies.

Backflow an undesirable reverse flow of contaminated water or other substances from a user’s water system back into the public drinking water system. Backflow incidents can seriously affect the quality and safety of the drinking water supply. This can occur if a plumbing system is physically connected (also called a cross-connection) to any source of contamination or pollution. Common examples of possible cross-connections include landscape sprinkling systems, hose attachments for utility sinks, and garden hoses. Backflow prevention assemblies provide the public water system with protection against contamination or pollution.

The Parowan City Public Works Department performs assessments of residential / commercial sprinkler irrigation systems to determine compliance with all state and local ordinances and requirements.

Irrigation System Connection Options

There are two irrigation system options for Parowan city property owners, with each having an approved separation between culinary and secondary water.

1. Secondary Only Connection - The first of three choices is direct use of secondary (irrigation) water only. The culinary stop and waste valve must be removed. If inside, then the shut off must be removed, the pipe cut flush with the wall and the outside line capped. Please note that all hose outlets must have anti-siphon valves installed and will be part of the Parowan City inspection.
2. Dual System Connection - The second of three choices is a dual system with culinary (drinking) and secondary (irrigation) water. This will require a Reduced Pressure Zone (RPZ) backflow assembly installed at the culinary connection. Also, a swing joint must be installed that will only allow culinary or only secondary water to be used one at a time, never both systems at the same time. The backflow assembly must be tested upon installation and annually thereafter. The test report is to be forwarded to Parowan City Public Works Department.

See Parowan City code 7.10.161 – No water service connection to any premises shall be installed or maintained by the City or any other water utility unless the water supply to the premises is protected as required herein and as set forth by the State of Utah Department of Environmental Quality and Division of Drinking Water where the Public Drinking Water Rules apply to the public drinking water systems.

In order to prevent cross connections between the City’s culinary water system and any other system, the resident or business owner will choose between another system or the City’s culinary system. If a system other than the City’s culinary water system is connected, then the homeowner or business shall not have a feed line connecting this other system with the City’s culinary water system. No physical connection shall be allowed between the City’s culinary system and any other system.

This effort is to protect the drinking water from contamination or pollution and is required by the Plumbing Code, including Amendments and the State Drinking Water Rule, as well as Parowan City Ordinances. Violations must be corrected.

Required Backflow Tests
 

In accordance with, Parowan city ordinance 7.10.161 and the International Plumbing Code (Utah Amended 2003), all backflow prevention assemblies must be tested at the time of installation, repair or relocation AND on an annual basis thereafter.

Annual tests of backflow prevention assemblies are the responsibility of the property owner and must be conducted by a certified backflow tester. 

Annual test reports must be forwarded to the Parowann City Water Department by email to billy@parowan.org
 

Quick Links

• https://waterlink.utah.gov/public/publicBackflowComm.html
• https://cms8.revize.com/revize/rivertonut/departments/water/documents/cross-connection-control-program.pdf
• https://cms8.revize.com/revize/rivertonut/departments/water/documents/water-connection-specs.pdf

Questions?
Billy Calloway
Backflow Program Administrator
billy@parowan.org
Phone: 435-477-3331