City and Residents Must Work Together to Prevent Backflow

Have you ever connected a chemical sprayer to the end of your hose or left a hose submerged in a swimming pool or bucket of soapy water? If proper precautions aren’t taken, this water could siphon back into the water distribution system and contaminate clean drinking water. 

Backflow is an unwanted flow of water or other liquid in the opposite direction of its normal flow, allowing potential contaminants to enter the public water distribution system. It can occur from a nearby firefighting event, a water main break, routine water line flushing, or any other situation that causes a significant loss in water system pressure. 

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. One way to do this is to install a vacuum breaker on your home’s hose bib, the outdoor faucet that connects to your property’s main water line. Vacuum breakers prevent water from being siphoned back into the water distribution system. Vacuum breakers are easy to install and can be found at most hardware stores. 

Additional steps you can take to prevent backflow include: 

Leave an air gap between hoses and water. 

Never leave a hose submerged in buckets or pools of water. For example, when filling a swimming pool, always leave an air gap between the end of the hose and the pool water. Without a vacuum breaker on the hose bib, the hose could siphon pool chemicals or dirty water into the water distribution system. 

Minimize the use of chemical attachments. 

When using a fertilizer or chemical sprayer that attaches directly to a hose, disconnect the sprayer as soon as work is complete. Without a vacuum breaker on the hose bib, there is a chance that the chemicals could be siphoned into the water distribution system. 

Maintain required backflow assemblies. 

The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) requires the use of backflow assemblies on irrigation systems, sprinkler systems, boilers, geothermal heating systems and medical equipment connected to the public water distribution system. These assemblies must be tested annually to confirm they are working properly. Results of the annual backflow tests must be submitted to the Backflow Prevention Program, per state code.  

Learn more about backflow prevention and assembly requirements by visiting VirginiaBeach.gov/Backflow.