Missouri Department of Natural Resources dedicates a page specifically to backflow prevention because it is that important. Many of the Members use the drinking water facilities to fill pools, water their lawn, wash and provide water on their docks or garages but what you may not think about is all these items pose a risk to the water you drink whether it is due to back pressure or siphoning. Remember back to your time in the science classroom and you needed to create a vacuum but there was not a pump to create such a vacuum so what did you do? You put a hose on a water faucet that had a tee inline as the water rushed passed the tee fitting it drew air with the water creating a vacuum for your experiments. This can happen in your yard and even on the dock! Just imagine what you put on your yard, who walks on runs across your yard, or what swims/dumps into the lake…now you can see how important backflow prevention is.
Backflow devices have to be tested annually by a certified backflow inspector. Sometimes inspectors are also installers and there is nothing wrong with that. In fact in most cases failed backflow devices can be repaired on the spot, reinspected and a clean bill of health for that year can be issued.
Missouri Water Association takes backflow prevention seriously, and as reminded in the annual meeting, copies of backflow prevention reports are due August 1.
To learn more about backflow devices and/or inspectors, please visit the Missouri Department of Natural Resources website at http://dnr.mo.gov/ccr/MO3238097.pdf.