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Homeowners who pump their lawn water from a pond or lake are currently required by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to install expensive backflow valves because of the "potential" to backflow chemicals into the drinking water supply. However, backflow valves are an expensive solution (supported by the plumbing industry) to a problem that simply doesn't exist. According to the Department of Health, no one in the state of Florida has ever died from a residential backflow contamination incident. In fact, according to the DOH, no one in Hillsborough County has ever even gotten sick from a backflow contamination incident. After you have looked through this website, please visit my other website: 26 Reasons to Ban Residential RP Backflow Valves. Some states exempt all residential customers from backflow prevention devices. These states include Arizona, Mississippi, Missouri, Utah and Wyoming. The Wyoming rule is very succinct as to why: "The prevention of one death in 143 years at a cost of $1.3 billion dollars does not justify the mandatory installation of back flow devices on residential and domestic non-residential services." As things now stand... After a number of complaints from around the state, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is revising its backflow valve regulations, which will directly affect the rewriting of the Hillsborough County ordinance and affect us. As part of this revision, the DEP has already held public meetings around the state to receive citizen input on their revised rules, which would greatly lessen the financial impact on homeowners who pump their irrigation water from a pond or well, by allowing less expensive backflow devices. The DEP planned to have their revised rules all in place by Fall of 2009 but that hasn't happened. They have had to delay their backflow valve rulemaking efforts several times in order to work on federally mandated rules governing other water matters. I suggested to the DEP that in the interim maybe they should issue user-friendly status reports to keep everyone updated and informed. Unfortunately, they didn't care for that idea. So, I decided to provide monthly Updates:
Click here for the most recent draft from July 1, 2009 of the DEP's revised rules. The DEP has ordered their field offices to suspend the enforcement of the current rules governing the installation of backflow devices until the new regulations are in place. In the interim, the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) has put a moratorium on citations to install backflow valves until the DEP completes its work and a new ordinance can be put in place. Allowing that there can be many a slip twixt the cup and the lips, the Hillsborough County Water Resource Services has already expressed their intention to implement the DEP's revised rules by installing state-of-the-art AMR (Automated Meter Reading) water meters with an attached $15 dual-check valve at all residential properties, irrespective of whether lawn irrigation water is pumped by the homeowner or supplied by the county. Click here for the Hillsborough County document. AMR's record the amount of forward and backflow every 15 minutes, or even more often, and transmit the collected data to a passing vehicle or central antenna. By eliminating on-the-ground meter readers, AMRs reduce the cost of reading a meter from about 54-cents per to about 4-cents per. AMRs also detect customers who may be watering outside of their allotted times during droughts. AMRs are to backflow detection what Mozart is to music! The government has acknowledged the contents of this website as being correct. Cindy Morris, the Environmental Administrator for the Hillsborough County Health Department, in an internal email wrote: "His web site is pretty accurate." Ta-Daaa! Website Index: Introduction Introduction: The Backflow Valve Controversy involves all homes in Florida because the regulations allow devices that give terrorists, disgruntled people, pranksters and high school kids the ability to contaminate your water utility's drinking water supply which is then piped to your property and into your home. In terms of who will have to install backflow valves, the regulations apply to those homes in Florida, including Hillsborough County, that pump from a pond or well to water their lawns.
Background: W.C. Fields did not drink water because of what fish do in it. In case a plumber, irrigation contractor, a former owner or even you accidentally cross-connected your irrigation system to your drinking water supply, you too may be drinking that sort of water. So, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and your county have had recommendations, rules and ordinances in place for several years which requires the separation of your drinking water from your irrigation system, which makes sense.
The bureaucratic concern is that sometime in the future, your irrigation system may accidentally be cross-connected to your drinking water so that you would be drinking lake or well water instead of city or county water. Plus, if your pump's pressure is greater than the county's pressure, your lake or well water could backfeed into the neighborhood's water lines unless you have a backflow valve. It doesn't matter that you can prove absolutely that your irrigation system is not cross-connected to your drinking water. You will be paying some plumber up to $700 to install that valve! And to add insult to injury, you will then have to pay him for yearly inspections, that have cost as much as $840, to insure the valve is still working. The rules were promulgated by the Florida Department of Environment Protection (DEP). All counties are required to follow their rules. The rules were adopted without considering the financial impact on Floridians, especially the elderly. And the rules were adopted without considering the valve's vulnerabilities, such as:
The purpose of the ordinances and the DEP's rule is to keep polluted water (poor quality but not a health hazard) and contaminated water (a true health hazard) from backflowing into the neighborhood's drinking water. Polluted water is commonly associated with residential areas that have irrigation systems that use a lake or well and that have garden hoses - like a garden hose laying in a swimming pool, child's pool, laundry tub, bucket, puddle, etc. Contaminated water tends to be evil liquids associated with industrial operations and farms. Farmers seem to have most of the cross-connection problems, since all of their water systems - drinking, animal watering, water for mixing chemicals, irrigation, etc. - operate from a single well and are often jerry-rigged. A backflow can be created by pressure on the home side, like from an irrigation lake or well pump. But more likely it will be caused by a drop in pressure on the street side, like from a broken water main or fire hydrant usage. Unfortunately, if your neighbor isn't required to have some sort of backflow prevention device, as is the case in the current and proposed regulations, and she introduces bad things into the utility's water supply which also services your property, you become the victim because the utility supplies her tainted water to you. The backflow valve ordinance was not enforced for a number of years. And often, homeowners and irrigation contractors would not pull a permit because of the hassle and cost. Since "9/11", inspections and compliance has been stepped-up because someone who was bent on wrongdoing could easily backfeed lethal chemicals and bio-toxins into the drinking water system. The fact that this intentional backfeeding can easily be accomplished by way of the backflow valves pretty much sums-up why hundreds of thousands of them should not be installed in residential areas.
Media Coverage: We have been blessed with media coverage.
To view some of the articles, click here.
Why Are There Cross-Connections? There are three main reasons for cross-connections: First is that the plumbing was installed by a person who left an always-open direct connection between the pump and the County's water supply. This would be manifest by irrigation heads that were always spouting water. Second is that the system is relying on inadequate protection such as a single valve or other mechanical/electrical device such as a solenoid valve. Third, and the most prevalent (95% according to the County), are known connections that allow the irrigation system to be fed by either County water or lake or well water. Here is how the typical Sun City Center plumbing system was laid out when it was first installed.
Then an owner, along the way, decided to save money (and save the County's water resources) by getting his water from a lake or well, so he had a pump installed. For flexibility, he added a couple of ball valves so that he could feed the irrigation system from the County's water or from his lake or well.
Back to the top. Do-It-Yourself Check For Cross-Connections. There are two ways that you can informally check for a cross-connected system. The first is to simply walk around the outside of your home and look very carefully for the two ball valves located a foot or so apart.
If you find them, that means that your setup has the flexibility to irrigate from either the County water or from your lake or well. Unfortunately, as good as that concept sounds, it means you have a cross-connection capability. A ball valve is "on" when the handle is in line with the pipe, like the valve at the left. It is "off" when the handle is cross-ways to the pipe. If both valves are open, even a little bit, then the pump can force lake or well water back into the drinking water supply, provided the pump's pressure is greater than the County's pressure, which is 60 to 75 psi. The second method is to turn-off the electricity to the pump. Then run your irrigation control through all the lawn zones. If any water comes out, it is County water and you've got a cross-connection! These tests are not conclusive, but they're about what the licensed plumber will do to check for a cross-connection.
Four Types of Backflow Valves: There are a number of backflow prevention devices that keep cross-connected polluted water from one home from flowing backwards into the street line where it can contaminate the whole neighborhood. Here are the four main types used in residential areas. A Vacuum Breaker should be attached to each outside faucet. More information. A Pressure Vacuum Breaker is used when County water is used for irrigation. More information. A Dual Check Valve is used when Reclaimed water is used for irrigation. More information. The fourth type of backflow valve is a Reduced Pressure Zone Backflow Preventer Valve (RP or RPZ Valve). This is what millions of us here in Florida will be forced to install, even though we have done nothing wrong!
Notice the four test nipples on top that terrorists, vandals and disgruntled people can use to inject lethal chemicals and bio-toxins into a neighborhood's drinking water supply.
This type of valve is supposed to be more dependable than a dual-check valve when it is working properly. Unfortunately, it has a number of moving parts, like springs and pistons, which can fail. Which is why they need a yearly inspection. It is mounted above the ground and right next to the water meter which is probably on the property line between your lawn and the sidewalk. This is what the $700 valves look like in front of a couple of recently built homes in Apollo Beach.
These valves are above ground and in an exposed location at the front of your lawn. They will burst during a hard freeze. Thieves love the valves because they are easy to steal. They weigh 15 pounds. Their high brass and copper content will fetch from $22.50 (brass at $1.50 per lb.) to $39.30 (copper at $2.62 per lb.) at the scrap yard.
Tampering with Backflow Valves. Originally, this space was devoted to the downside of RP (RPZ) valves, including how to tamper with them. A number of county and state officials objected to the explicit nature of my explanations that exposed the many vulnerabilities of RP valves. In the spirit of compromise, this material has been temporarily removed while the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's suspension is in effect. The moratorium prohibits citations that require homeowners to install above-ground RP valves. The DEP has been challenged by a number of water utilities, like Palm Beach County and SEFLUC, about the safety and reliability of RP valves compared to dual-check valves - which are ten times more reliable. Their suspension is in effect while they consider the matter. If the DEP does decide that counties are to go with the far safer and more reliable dual-check valves instead of RP valves, the information on RP valve tampering would become moot and will be permanently removed from this website. Let's see what the DEP decides. Stay tuned!
A Novel About Backflow Valves And Terrorism? Is there a spy thriller in the idea of someone's backflowing lethal chemicals and bio-toxins into a large metropolitan area's drinking water? Click here for the possible plot line.
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