Cross Connection Control Program

For instance, in the municipal water distribution environment, water under pressure is delivered to customers through a complex network of pipes, pumps and storage tanks. As long as these pipes always remain under pressure, there is no problem. However, if a sizeable leak develops somewhere in the distribution system, the water delivery devices at your business may reverse from a pressure state to a vacuum state. That means that any direct connection to things like fire sprinkler systems, hoses connected to sinks, direct tubing connections, lawn irrigation systems, etc. will actually be “sucking” or pulling this potentially contaminated water from your location into the public water supply.

A backflow prevention device prevents this from occurring. With all the different types of businesses using many different chemicals in today’s society, we hope you can appreciate the importance of this program.

To do this, we must require any residential, commercial, and industrial accounts that are considered a risk to install the proper device that provides this protection. Further, this device is required to pass annual inspections to prove that it is still working properly and protecting the water supply. This program will affect all commercial customers in that you are responsible for the proper installation, maintenance, and annual testing of these devices. The actual costs you will incur can vary widely on installation depending on the size and location of the device you need. Your local licensed plumber will be able to answer those questions for you. Some licensed plumbers may not be certified to actually test these devices after installation. By law, only state certified backflow prevention technicians are able to perform this function, so be sure to check and see if your licensed plumber has this certification. We will be happy to provide you with the names and numbers of technicians certified in this area.

Devices must be tested by a Certified Backflow Tester. Click here for a current list of testers that have certifications in good standing with PAWSD.

Before testing for the District, all backflow testers are required to provide the District with the following information:

• Current Certification
• Current Test Gauge Calibration
• Contact Information as you would like it to appear on our "Approved Tester List"

All documents can be emailed to the District's Backflow Program Supervisor, Scott Zander: scottz@pawsd.org