If you have a sprinkler system for your lawn you could be fined a big chunk of money if you’re not getting it tested every three years.
Aubrey Spear, the Director of Water Utilities, says, “The whole purpose of the back flow program and laws is to protect the water system, our system, so that no one introduces any contaminants that might harm all of our customers.”
Spear is talking about testing the valve designed to keep water pushed into your sprinkler system from coming back into the city system. A test mandated by state law and while is may seem annoying, Spear says it’s an extremely important step in keeping our drinking water clean.
He says, “Some people my ask well what could contaminate your water supply from my yard. Well people have animals and they do things in their yards, you also have people put down chemicals in their yards so there are a lot of different things that could be sitting there in your yard that if there was a back flow siphoning going on it could suck that right through your irrigation system into our system that would contaminate our water supply.”
It’s something you are required to do and pay for every three years but to help you know when you are up for testing the city will send multiple notifications and the last one you won’t be able to miss.
“The final notification is a green tag on their door, we actually try to reach out in several different ways and that tag on the door is very easy to see and it says you’ve got to get this tested or you could get a fine,” says Spear.
Spear says the fine could be as high as $210 but it can easily be avoided by contacting a local expert for testing such as Robert Altman.
Robert says, “For residential it’s $65 is what I charge and that’s with the tax included as well.”
Altman also has some simple maintenance tips to make sure you only have to spend the $65 and not more.
“To keep that clean and away from debris that way the deterioration of the valve doesn’t go away therefore it doesn’t cost you in the long run basically to replace the whole system,” says Altman.