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For many neighborhoods, spraying sprinkler heads are pretty busy these days. Ball Valve With Drain
However, the pricey health safeguard that comes with them is catching some off guard.
A month ago, Leah Dupre received a letter from the Birmingham Water Works Board. They threatened to shut off her water if she did not provide proof her backflow preventer has been inspected right away.
“It didn't say in 30 days or whatever. Says immediately your water could be turned off. It scared me to death,” Dupre said.
It turns out, she and most of her Villa Trace neighbors' sprinklers were installed without the required backflow device, and they can cost big bucks.
“They said themselves, the Water Works Board said, that would be between $5,000 and $10,000. For something I didn't know existed,” Dupre said.
Her neighbor Sally McDonald wants to know why they are just now receiving these letters two decades after their homes were built.
“I don't like the idea that we have to go back and do something that the builder was negligent on, that I think is unfair,” McDonald said.
Birmingham Water Works spokesperson Rick Jackson said they are simply following state and federal guidelines, which have been around for decades.
“This is required by ADEM (Alabama Department of Environmental Management) and the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), and it is required that us as a utility, we must regulate this,” Jackson said.
ADEM's current rules were updated in 2006.
"The supplier of water shall deny or discontinue water service to a customer if a required backflow prevention device is not installed or properly maintained," ADEM’s regulations state.
If the rules are not new, why are residents like Dupre and McDonald just now being threatened by the Water Works?
“We have been able to be a little bit more aggressive with finding out who needs testing, who doesn't have these regulators for a number of reasons. Staff increases; we are able to do more audits now,” Jackson said.
Nick Tawbush is a licensed backflow preventer installer and inspector. He says the devices keep any chemicals in your swimming pool or sprinkler system from being pulled into the main drinking water supply.
“If there ever was a break or a back siphonage, it could suck whatever's in the consumer's house back into the main, and then all your water is contaminated,” Tawbush said.
How do you know if you have one?
Nine times out of ten, Tawbush says a homeowner would find theirs in an underground box within five feet of the main water meter.
Dupre is now faced with paying for a backflow valve or losing running water.
That’s a risk more neighborhoods face as the Water Works continues their required crackdown.
“Let everyone know that this is going on and that your neighborhood could be next,” Dupre said.
The Water Works Board says even if you have not received a notice and have a sprinkler system or pool, you should give them a call.
They say installing and maintaining the backflow prevention valve keeps everyone safe.
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