Mesa City Code 8-1-11: annual backflow testing, repair deadlines and who can test

The customer is "the responsible party" to make sure the assembly works, is tested by the compliance date and that the city has the report. The section then sets the sequence:

• Yearly. Test and service every assembly at least once a year before the compliance due date, at the customer's expense (C, D).
• Recognized tester only. A tester on the city's list, following section 9 of the USC Manual of Cross-Connection Control, 10th edition (E, F).
• Failed at the annual test. Repair or replace by the compliance due date (G).
• Found defective between tests. Repair within 15 calendar days of discovery (H).
• After any overhaul, repair or replacement. Retest within 24 hours (I).
• Report. Submit the testing record within seven calendar days, or by the compliance due date if that comes sooner. Missing it means the backflow compliance late fee and possible civil sanction under 8-1-16 (J).

• Compliance due date. Not defined in the section. The city sends notices telling regulated customers when their annual test is due, so treat the notice date as yours.
• Recognized tester. Under 8-1-12, a certified tester who has filed Mesa's tester application, signed the City of Mesa Backflow Assembly Tester Agreement, and submitted a current gauge calibration report. Testers who lose certification, or whose equipment report is over a year old, are removed from the list.
• Serviced. The code pairs "tested and serviced," and doesn't spell out what service means beyond keeping the assembly working as the manufacturer designed it (B).

Every customer with a backflow assembly on Mesa's water system, residential or commercial, including landscape-only meters. It doesn't cover a property with no assembly. Whether you need one is the 8-1-8 list.

A restaurant with an RPA. The notice lands in spring. The tester runs the test, the relief valve fails, and the owner has until the compliance due date to repair it. The repair triggers the 24 hour retest.

A landscape meter at an HOA. The test passes in March. The tester submits the record to Mesa's backflow portal within seven days. The board still owns the duty to confirm Mesa received it.

The edge case. A property manager finds a dripping assembly in August, well before any test is due. The 15 day clock starts on discovery, not on the next notice.

1. 1Watch for the city's annual test notice and note the compliance due date on it.
2. 2Pick a tester from Mesa's lists, general or fire contractor, linked on the city's backflow page. Anyone not on the list can't test in the city.
3. 3Schedule the test early enough to leave room for repair and the 24 hour retest.
4. 4Confirm the tester files the record on the city's backflow portal within seven days, and keep your own copy.
5. 5Questions: backflow@mesaaz.gov or 480-644-6462, Monday to Thursday 6:00 am to 4:30 pm.

• "The tester filed it, so I'm covered." 8-1-11(A) makes the customer responsible for the city receiving the report.
• "Any certified tester will do." 8-1-12 says anyone performing backflow maintenance and testing within the City must be recognized by Mesa.
• "I wait for the notice." The yearly duty is in the code. The notice is a reminder, and a defect between tests has its own 15 day clock.
• "A repaired assembly can wait for next year's test." It needs a retest within 24 hours.