Section 610. Containment policy

A. An approved backflow prevention device shall be installed at each service connection to a consumer's water system where, in the judgment of the water purveyor or the division, a health, pollution, or system hazard to the waterworks exists.

B. When, as a matter of practicality, the backflow prevention device cannot be installed at the service connection, the device may be located downstream of the service connection but prior to any unprotected takeoffs.

C. A backflow prevention device shall be installed at each service connection to a consumer's water system serving premises where the following conditions exist:

1. Premises on which any substance is handled in such a manner as to create an actual or potential hazard to a waterworks (this shall include premises having sources or systems containing process fluids or waters originating from a waterworks which are no longer under the control of the water purveyor);

2. Premises having internal cross connections that, in the judgment of the water purveyor or the division, may not be easily correctable or have intricate plumbing arrangements which make it impracticable to determine whether or not cross connections exist;

3. Premises where, because of security requirements or other prohibitions or restrictions, it is impossible or impractical to make a complete cross connection survey;

4. Premises having a repeated history of cross connections being established or reestablished;

5. Premises having fire protection systems utilizing combinations of sprinklers, fire loops, storage tanks, pumps, antifreeze protection, or auxiliary water sources including siamese connections (fire loops and sprinkler systems with openings not subject to flooding, and containing no antifreeze or other chemicals, no separate fire protection storage, or auxiliary sources, will not normally require backflow prevention); and

6. Other premises specified by the division or the purveyor when cause can be shown that a potential cross connection hazard not enumerated above exists.

D. Premises having booster pumps connected to the waterworks shall be equipped with a low pressure regulating or cutoff device to shut off the booster pump when the pressure in the waterworks drops to a minimum of 10 psi gauge.

E. An approved backflow prevention device shall be installed at each service connection to a consumer's water system serving, but not necessarily limited to, the following types of facilities:

1. Hospitals, mortuaries, clinics, veterinary establishments, nursing homes, and medical buildings;

2. Laboratories;

3. Piers, docks, and waterfront facilities;

4. Sewage treatment plants, sewage pumping stations, or storm water pumping stations;

5. Food and beverage processing plants;

6. Chemical plants, dyeing plants and pharmaceutical plants;

7. Metal plating industries;

8. Petroleum or natural gas processing or storage plants;

9. Radioactive materials processing plants or nuclear reactors;

10. Car washes and laundries;

11. Lawn sprinkler systems, and irrigation systems;

12. Fire service systems;

13. Slaughter houses and poultry processing plants;

14. Farms where the water is used for other than household purposes;

15. Commercial greenhouses and nurseries;

16. Health clubs with swimming pools, therapeutic baths, hot tubs, or saunas;

17. Paper and paper products plants and printing plants;

18. Pesticide or exterminating companies and their vehicles with storage or mixing tanks;

19. Schools or colleges with laboratory facilities;

20. Highrise buildings (four or more stories);

21. Multiuse commercial, office, or warehouse facilities; and

22. Others specified by the purveyor or the division when reasonable cause can be shown for a potential backflow or cross connection hazard.

Historical Notes

Derived from VR355-18-006.04 § 2.28, eff. August 1, 1991; amended, Volume 09, Issue 17, eff. June 23, 1993.

Statutory Authority

§§ 32.1-12 and 32.1-170 of the Code of Virginia.