What is a backflow preventer?
In a perfect world, water flows from a city’s water supply into each home, and from there it is used for showers, washing machines, toilets, sinks and other domestic needs. The water is maintained by the city at a significant pressure to enable the water to flow in the correct direction.
The last thing anyone wants is for the dirty water from the home to flow in reverse back to the city’s potable water supply, but when that happens it is called backflow, and we keep that from happening by using what is known as a backflow preventer.
What would cause water to reverse course? Most often it is caused by a reduced amount of pressure in the pipes, and can happen when a water main bursts, when pipes freeze, when there is a very high demand for potable water or when several fire hydrants are opened to fight a fire. Since the aforementioned things do happen in any city, a backflow preventer is installed to prevent the water from flowing in the wrong direction and polluting the city’s water supply.
What types of backflow preventers are there? A partial list includes: air gaps, atmospheric vacuum breakers, check valves, chemigation valves, double check valves, pressure vacuum breaker assemblies, reduced pressure zone devices, spill resistant pressure vacuum breaker assemblies and vacuum breakers.
As a preventative measure, many states and cities require annual testing of backflow preventers in homes, and that’s where City Backflow Testing comes into play. We at City Backflow Testing do backflow testing and backflow certification, backflow repair and backflow maintenance, and all backflow services are done in compliance with the USC 10th Edition for cross connection control. We service most cities within the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex including Arlington, Bedford, Carrolton, Crowley, Fort Worth, Grapevine, Irving, Mansfield, North Richland Hills, Richland Hills, Roanoke and many more.
When it comes time to have your backflow preventer tested, it’s important to have your system checked by a licensed backflow tester. City Backflow Testing is licensed by the state of Texas in the following areas:
- Licensed Backflow Prevention Assembly Tester
- Fireline Certificate of Registered Underground Contractor
- Fire Sprinkler RME Underground License
- Certified Water Auditor
- State of Texas Training Provider-699
In a perfect world, water flows from the city water supply to your home. Make sure your home is protected by the proper backflow preventers installed and maintained by City Backflow Testing.