The Water Customer Responsibility

The water consumer has the dual responsibility of protecting the water users within his own premises and of protecting the public water system from contamination originating from conditions on the premises. This responsibility begins at the service connection and includes the entire consumer’s distribution system.

The water consumer is liable for any plumbing installation on the premises that could endanger the water quality of either the public or consumer’s distribution system. If the public water system requires backflow prevention devices on the service line, the facility owner shall be responsible for water quality beyond the outlet end of the meter and should utilize fixture outlet protection to control cross-connection within the water system of the facility. The public water system shall be responsible for ensuring that the owner of the facility follows through with protecting the domestic water system from unapproved cross-connection.

The owner of the facility shall allow the property to be inspected for possible cross-connection by the public water system or shall have the facility inspected for cross-connection by a certified cross-connection control surveyor or an independent certified contractor specializing in cross-connection surveyors. The water customer or facility owner shall be responsible for controlling all cross-connection found by making plumbing changes and/or installing backflow prevention devices/assemblies.

The water customer or facility owner, after having been informed of the existence of cross-connections, shall comply with all plumbing code requirements regarding plumbing work completed on the premises. The water customer or facility owner shall be responsible for the installation, maintenance, and testing of all backflow prevention device/assemblies. The water customer or facility owner shall apply for all required plumbing permits and for the installation of backflow prevention devices and the modification of any plumbing. The water customer or facility owner shall install only approved backflow prevention devices or assemblies.

The water customer or facility owner shall be responsible for contacting the plumbing code enforcers prior to the installation of a new backflow prevention device/assemblies to access the potential discharge of water. The water customer or facility owner shall review the backflow prevention device assembly drainage system to determine if the drain line is capable of meeting the manufacturers catastrophic discharge rate without causing flooding or damage to the facility.

The water customer or facility owner shall provide the public water system with the information necessary for the public water system to determine the hazard classification of the domestic potable water system. The water customer shall notify the public water system and plumbing code officials of any pending domestic potable water system modification that will have an effect on his hazard classification of the facility or building.