Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Implementing a Water Cross-Connection Control Program ORDINANCE NO. 3433 AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE CITY OF AMES,IOWA,BY REPEALING SUBSECTION 21.501(30)THEREOF AND RE- ENACTING THAT SUBSECTION REVISED TO PROVIDE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A WATER CROSS-CONNECTION CONTROL PROGRAM AS PART OF THE PLUMBING REGULATIONS; REPEALING ANY AND ALL ORDINANCES OR PARTS OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT TO THE EXTENT OF SUCH CONFLICT; PROVIDING A PENALTY; AND ESTABLISHING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. BE IT ENACTED,by the City Council for the City of Ames,Iowa,that: Section One. The Municipal Code of the City of Ames,Iowa shall be and the same is hereby amended by repealing Subsection 21.501(30)and re-enacting that Subsection to state as follows: "(30) Section 1003 of the UPC is amended by adding the following: (a) Purpose. The purpose of these cross-connection control regulations is: (i) to protect the City of Ames Public Water Supply(PWS)from the possibility of contamination or pollution through cross-connections by isolating within the customer's internal distribution system(s)or the customer's private water system(s)such contaminants or pollutants that could Backflow into the PWS;and (ii) to provide for the maintenance of a continuing program of cross-connection control that will systematically and effectively prevent the contamination or pollution of the PWS. (b) Defmitions (i) Approved Backflow Prevention Assembly For Containment. A backflow prevention assembly which is listed by the University of Southern California-Foundation for Cross- Connection Control and Hydraulic Research as having met the requirements of ANSI-AWWA Standard C510-92, "Double Check Valve Backflow-Prevention Assemblies", or ANSI-AWWA Standard C511-92, "Reduced-Pressure Principle Backflow Prevention Assemblies"for containment. The Backflow prevention assembly must also be listed by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials. (ii) Auxiliary Water Supply. Any water supply on or available to the premises other than the PWS. These auxiliary waters may include used waters;industrial fluids;or water from another purveyor's public potable water supply or any water source(s)such as a well,spring,river, stream,and so forth. (iii) Backflow. The undesirable reversal of flow into the public water distribution system as a result of a cross-connection. (iv) Backflow Prevention Assembly. An assembly or means to prevent backflow. a. Air Gap. This is a physical break between the PWS and the customers water system. The air gap is to create an unobstructed vertical distance between the opening of any pipe or faucet conveying water to a tank,plumbing fixture,receptor,or other assembly and the flood level of the receptacle. These vertical separations must be at least twice the diameter of the water supply outlet,never less than one-inch separation. b. Reduced-Pressure Principle Backflow Prevention Assembly(RP). The RP consists of two independently acting check valves together with a hydraulically operating, mechanically independent pressure differential relief valve located between the check valves. These units are located between two tightly closing resilient-seated valves as an assembly and equipped with properly located resilient-seated test shutoffs. 1 C. Double Check Valve Assembly(DC). The DC consists of two internally loaded check valves,either spring loaded or internally weighted,installed as a unit between two tightly closing resilient-seated shutoff valves with properly located resilient-seated test shutoffs. (v) Containment. A method of backflow prevention which requires the installation of a backflow prevention assembly at the water service connection. (vi) Contamination. An impairment of a potable water supply by the introduction or admission of any foreign substance that degrades the quality of the water and creates a health hazard. (vii) Cross-Connection. An actual or potential connection between any part of a potable water system and any other environment containing other substances in a manner that,under any circumstances,would allow such substances to enter the potable water system. (viii) Cross-Connection - Controlled. A connection between a potable water system and a non-potable water system with an approved backflow prevention assembly properly installed and maintained so that it will continuously afford the protection commensurate with the degree of hazard. (ix) Hazard,Degree of. The rating of a cross-connection or water service which indicates if it has the potential to cause contamination or pollution. The term is derived from an evaluation of the potential risk to public health and the adverse effect of the hazard upon the potable water system. a. Hazard-Health. A hazard upon the PWS involving any substance that,if introduced in the potable water supply,could cause death,illness,spread disease,or have a high probability of causing such effects. b. Hazard - Non-health. A hazard upon the PWS involving any substance that generally would not be a health hazard but,if introduced into the PWS,could cause a nuisance by introducing color,taste,odor,and so forth,or physically,chemically,or biologically alter the quality of the PWS. (x) Industrial Fluids System. Any system containing a fluid or solution that may contaminate or pollute the PWS. This may include,but not be limited to polluted or contaminated waters,all types of process waters and used waters originating from the public potable water system, chemicals,acids,alkalies,cooling waters,oils,gases,and so forth. (xi) Pollution. The presence of any foreign substance in water that impairs, alters,or degrades its quality but does not constitute a health hazard. (xii) Registered Backflow Prevention Assembly Technician(Technician). A person who is registered by the State of Iowa to test or repair backflow prevention assemblies and report on the condition of those assemblies. (xiii) Service Connection. The terminal end of a service connection from the PWS;that is,the point of delivery to the customer's water system. If a meter is installed at the end of the service connection, then the service connection shall mean the downstream end of the meter. Service connections shall also include water service connection from a fire hydrant and all other temporary or emergency water service connections from the public water system. (xiv) Thermal Expansion. Volumetric increase of water due to heating resulting in increased pressure in a closed system. (xv) Water-Potable. For the purposes of these regulations,potable water is the City of Ames public water supply while it is under the city's control and jurisdiction. (xvi) Water-Non-potable. Water that is not safe for human consumption or that is of questionable or unknown quality. (xvii) Water-Used. Water supplied by the PWS to a customer after it has passed through the service connection. (c) Administrative Authority (i) The administrative authority is the Ames City Council acting through such persons or departments the City Council shall designate. 2 (ii) The administrative authority shall have the right to enter,with the consent of the customer or upon the basis of a suitable warrant issued by a court of appropriate jurisdiction,any property to inspect for possible cross-connections. a. All backflow prevention assemblies shall be available for city inspection within a short notice by the administrative authority. Short notice is considered to be less than 24 hours. b. The entrance to the property to inspect for cross-connections will not be necessary if the customer has properly installed,tested,and maintained an approved RP on every and all service connections serving the customer's premises. (iii) The administrative authority may collect fees for the administration of this program. (iv) The administrative authority shall maintain records of cross-connection hazard surveys,and the installation,testing,and repair of all backflow prevention assemblies installed for containment purposes. (d) Where Containment Is Required (i) At the premises listed below,an approved backflow prevention assembly for containment shall be installed by the customer on each service line at or near the service connection before the first branch line leading off the service line. a. Premises having an auxiliary water supply b. Premises on which any industrial fluids,gases,process waters,or other objectionable substances are handled in such a fashion which may create an actual or potential hazard to the PWS C. Premises having (1) internal cross-connections that cannot be permanently corrected and controlled, (2)intricate plumbing and piping arrangements or where entry to all portions of the premises is not readily accessible for inspection purposes,making it impractical or impossible to ascertain whether or not cross-connections exist d. At premises having more than one water service,not including fire protection systems,all service connections shall be protected against backflow from the premises by installing an approved backflow prevention assembly for containment at each service connection (ii) Failure of the administrative authority to notify a customer that they are believed to have a health hazard cross-connection and that they shall install backflow prevention assemblies for containment shall in no way relieve a customer of the responsibility to comply with all requirements of these regulations. (e). Type Of Containment Required (i) The PWS shall be protected by an RP or an air gap separation a. where there is an auxiliary water supply; b. where there is any material dangerous to health that is handled in such a fashion as to create an actual or potential hazard to the PWS; C. where there are"uncontrolled"cross connections,either actual or potential;or d. where,because of security requirements or other prohibitions or restrictions,it is impossible or impractical to make a complete in-plant cross-connection survey. (ii) The PWS shall be protected by a DC where there is water or other substance that would be objectionable but not hazardous to health if introduced into the PWS. An air gap separation or an RP may be used in lieu of a DC. (iii) The PWS shall be protected by a DC where there is more than one water service connection. An air gap separation or an RP may be used in lieu of a DC. Use of a DC will not be permitted if there are other conditions present which require an air gap separation or an RP. (iv) The director of the City of Ames Water and Pollution Control Department may require installation of an air gap separation,by and at the customer's sole expense,at the service connection where records indicate a history of threat to the public water supply system because of negligence in handling health hazard substances or actual backflow into the PWS. 3 (f). New Water Services (i) Plans shall be submitted to the administrative authority for review on all new water services in order to determine the type of containment needed. (ii) The administrative authority shall require the installation of the appropriate backflow prevention assembly for containment before the initiation of water service. (g) Fire Protection Systems (i) A backflow prevention assembly to be used in a fire protection system shall meet the requirements of Factory Mutual Research Corporation(FM)and Underwriters Laboratory (UL)and the requirements of the fire code and the building code of the City of Ames,in addition to the requirements of paragraph (b)(i). Assemblies sized smaller than 2-1/2 inches which have not been tested by FM and listed by UL may be allowed if approved by the City of Ames Fire Department Chief. (ii) An RP shall be installed on all new and existing fire protection systems which the administrative authority determines to have any of the following: a. Interconnections with auxiliary supplies such as reservoirs,rivers, ponds,wells,mills,or other industrial water systems b. Use of antifreezes or other additives in the fire protection system C. Any other facility, connection, or condition which may cause contamination (iii) A DC will be required for all other fire protection systems. The DC shall be required on all new systems at the time of installation and on existing systems at the time that they are upgraded. (h) Portable Tanks. Portable tanks and vessels shall be filled through a properly installed and maintained backflow prevention assembly or vacuum breaker. (i) Installation of Backflow Prevention Assemblies (i) All backflow prevention assemblies for containment shall be installed so that they are accessible for testing as stated in the UPC at Section 1003(c)thereof. The installation shall also provide the same clearances as called for the water meter in the City of Ames Municipal Code, Section 28.205.(5). (ii) No backflow prevention assembly for containment shall be installed in a place where it would create a safety hazard such as,but not limited to,over an electrical panel or above ceiling level. (iii) The required backflow prevention assemblies for containment shall be installed in horizontal plumbing immediately following the meter or as close to that location as deemed practical by the administrative authority unless approved in writing by the administrative authority. In any case,it shall be located upstream of any branch piping. Installation at this point does not eliminate the responsibility of the customer to protect the water supply system from contamination or pollution between the backflow prevention assembly and the water main,and to protect the water supply system from contamination or pollution within the premises. (iv) RPs for containment shall be installed so as to be protected from flooding. (v) RPs for containment shall not be installed in underground vaults or pits. (vi) All backflow prevention assemblies for containment shall be protected from freezing. Assemblies used for seasonal services may be removed in lieu of being protected from freezing;however,the assemblies must be reinstalled and tested by a technician prior to the service being reactivated. (vii) If hot water is used within the water system,thermal expansion shall be provided for when installing a backflow prevention assembly for containment. (viii) Provisions shall be made to convey the discharge of water from RPs to a suitable drain. (ix) If interruption of water service during testing and repair of backflow assemblies for containment is unacceptable to the customer,another backflow prevention assembly for containment,sized to handle the temporary water flow needed during the time of test or repair,shall be installed in parallel piping. 4 (x) All shutoffvalves shall conform with the current edition of the Manual of Cross-Connection Control(University of Southern California)requirements for either ball or resilient seat valves at the time of installation. Ball valves shall be used on assemblies installed in piping two inches and smaller and resilient-seat gate valves on assemblies installed in piping larger than two inches. (j) Removal of Backflow Prevention Assemblies (i) Approval must be obtained from the administrative authority before a backflow prevention assembly for containment is removed,relocated,or replaced. (ii) The use of an assembly may be discontinued and the assembly removed from service upon presentation of sufficient evidence that a hazard no longer exists and will not be created in the future. (iii) An assembly may be relocated following confirmation by the administrative authority that the relocation will continue to provide the required protection and satisfy installation requirements. A test will be required following the relocation of the assembly. (iv) An assembly may be removed and replaced, provided the water use is discontinued until the replacement assembly is installed. (v) An assembly may be removed to protect it from freezing provided that a. water use is discontinued until the assembly is reinstalled and tested;and b. the administrative authority is notified in writing within five days of the removal. (k) Testing of Backflow Prevention Assemblies (i) Testing of backflow prevention assemblies for containment shall be performed by a registered backflow prevention assembly technician(technician). The costs of required tests shall be borne by the customer. (ii) Backflow prevention assemblies for containment shall be tested and inspected upon installation and at least annually thereafter. (iii) Backflow prevention assemblies for containment which are in place,but have been out of service for more than three months, shall be tested before being put back into operation. Backflow prevention assemblies for containment used in seasonal applications shall be tested before being put into operation each season. (iv) Any backflow prevention assembly for containment which fails a test shall be repaired or replaced. Backflow prevention assemblies for containment shall be retested by a technician immediately after repair or replacement. (v) When water service has been terminated for non-compliance,the backflow prevention assembly for containment shall be repaired or replaced and then tested prior to the resumption of water service. (vi) When warranted, the administrative authority may require backflow prevention assemblies for containment to be tested at any time in addition to the annual testing requirement. Examples of this might include assemblies with a history of repeated failures or assemblies that have been subjected to fire,flood,or other unusual environmental conditions. (vii) The technician shall report the results of all inspections and tests of a backflow prevention assembly for containment to the customer and to the administrative authority on the form provided by the administrative authority within ten working days of the test. The technician shall immediately report to the administrative authority when and where his/her test indicates that an assembly fails to perform and no subsequent repair is done to make the assembly function properly. (viii) The administrative authority may periodically verify test procedures and results. (1) Repair of Backflow Prevention Assemblies For Containment (i) All repairs to backflow prevention assemblies for containment shall be performed by technicians. 5 (ii) The technician shall not change the design, material, or operational characteristics of a backflow prevention assembly for containment during repair or maintenance and shall use only original manufacturer replacement parts or equivalent parts approved by the University of Southern California-Foundation for Cross-Connection Control and Hydraulic Research. (iii) The repaired assembly must be tested after each repair and pass the test before being placed back into service. (iv) The technician shall report the repair of a backflow prevention assembly for containment to the customer and to the administrative authority within ten working days of the repair. The report shall include the list of materials or replacement parts used and subsequent tests. (m) Backflow Incidents (i) The customer shall immediately notify the administrative authority when the customer becomes aware that backflow has occurred in the building,property,or private water system receiving water service. (ii) The administrative authority may order that a water service be temporarily shut off when backflow occurs in a customer's building,property,or private water system. Such shut off is to protect the system from further contamination or pollution and to allow time for locating and mitigating the cause and extent of the contamination or pollution. (n) Existing Backflow Prevention Assemblies For Containment (i) All backflow prevention assemblies for containment installed prior to November 1, 1996,that do not meet the requirements of these regulations but were approved testable assemblies for the purpose described herein at the time of installation and that have been properly installed and maintained,shall,except for the testing,inspection,and maintenance requirements under Section (k) and Section (1), be excluded from the requirements of these rules so long as the administrative authority is assured that they will satisfactorily protect the PWS. Whenever the existing assembly for containment is moved from the present location,requires replacement,or when the use of the service area protected by the assembly changes so that the administrative authority determines that the public water system is subject to higher actual or potential hazards,the unit shall be replaced by an approved backflow prevention assembly for containment meeting the requirements of these regulations. (o) Customer Non-compliance (i) In case of non-compliance with these regulations, the administrative authority shall notify the customer to comply within ten working days. In the event of failure or upon refusal of the customer to comply as ordered, the administrative authority may, after notice and reasonable opportunity for hearing, terminate water service. Non-compliance includes, but is not limited to,the following: a. Refusal to allow the administrative authority access to the property to inspect for cross-connections,except for those meeting Subsection(e)(i)d. b. Providing inadequate backflow prevention when cross-connections exist C. Failure to install a backflow prevention assembly for containment which has been required by the administrative authority d. Failure to test,maintain,or properly repair a backflow prevention assembly for containment as required by the administrative authority e. Failure to comply with the requirements of these regulations f. Refusal to replace a faulty backflow prevention assembly g. Removal of a backflow prevention assembly for containment which has been required by the administrative authority except for seasonal removal as in Section I.6 h. Bypassing of a backflow prevention assembly for containment which has been required by the administrative authority i. Failure to report a backflow incident j. Direct connection between the PWS and a sewer line k. A situation which presents an immediate health hazard to the PWS 6 (ii) For conditions g, h,i,j, and k, the administrative authority will take the following steps. a. Make a reasonable effort to advise the customer of intent to terminate water service. b. Terminate water supply and lock service valve. The water service will remain inactive until correction of the violation has been approved by the administrative authority." Section Two. Violation of the provisions of this ordinance shall constitute a municipal infraction punishable as set out in Section 1.9 of the Municipal Code. Section Three. All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed to the extent of such conflict,if any. Section Four. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage and publication as required by law. Passed this 13th day of May , 1997. LI--- L 26"� /I � Sandra L. Ryan,City Clerk Larry R.Curtis,t4ayor 0445 7