City and Residents Must Work Together to Prevent Backflow

This warm weather is perfect for giving your four-legged friend a bath or topping off the water in your pool. Normally, when you turn on the outside faucet, water flows out of your hose based on pressure in the water system.

However, changes in water pressure can make water flow back into your household plumbing. This is called backflow, and it can allow potential contaminants to enter the public water distribution system.

Virginia Beach Public Utilities is committed to providing safe and reliable drinking water and has had a backflow prevention program in place since 2011. This program includes surveying, inspecting and tracking the testing of all backflow prevention devices and assemblies within Virginia Beach’s public water distribution system. 

Residents also play an essential role is preventing backflow and protecting drinking water. You can take the following steps to help prevent backflow:

• Never leave a hose submerged in a bucket, pool, spa or tub. Always keep at least a 2-inch air gap between the end of the hose or nozzle and any substance.
• Install hose bib vacuum breakers on all outdoor threaded faucets. Hose bib vacuum breakers help ensure that no harmful materials are drawn back into the drinking water system. They are inexpensive, easy to install, and available at most hardware stores.
• Make sure the water is turned off when the hose is not in use.
• Minimize the use of fertilizer or chemical sprayers that attach directly to a hose. Always disconnect the sprayer as soon as work is complete.

Visit VirginiaBeach.gov/Backflow for more information.

Virginia Beach Public Utilities is committed to helping Virginia Beach residents of all ages learn about the value of water and how to conserve it, how to keep drains clear, how to protect your pipes and more.

• Backflow Prevention
• Public Utilities