Can Scottsdale shut off your water for a backflow violation?

Section 49-66 lists what the division can act on and the steps it takes:

• Refusing inspection (a): the division may disconnect water to a user who refuses entry or access to inspectors under Sec. 49-65.
• Backflow problems (b): if the division finds a required assembly was never installed, or an assembly was improperly tested or maintained, bypassed or removed, or an unprotected cross-connection exists, the customer supply line from the meter is disconnected unless the problem is fixed within the time stated in the notice. It stays off until the condition is remedied.
• Fire sprinkler exemption (c): a customer supply line to a fire sprinkler system is not subject to disconnection under this section. It can still face penalties under Sec. 49-64.
• Two notices (d): before disconnecting, the division sends a notice that describes the condition and says it must be remedied within 30 days after mailing. If the condition is not fixed in 30 days, a second notice goes by certified mail saying water will be disconnected in 10 days.
• No notice for contamination (e): the division may disconnect without notice when it finds the user's water system is contaminating the public potable water supply.
• Turn-on fee (f): after a shutoff for non-compliance, a fee is added to the monthly water bill once the required testing is done. The minimum is two hours of labor at the city's prevailing rate, more if needed, with an itemized bill. The fee applies to each extra turn-on trip after each new non-compliance shutoff.

• Customer supply line: the line from the city meter into your property. Disconnecting it means the whole property loses water.
• Remedied: the assembly is installed, repaired or tested as the notice requires. The notice sets the fix and the deadline.
• Contaminating the public supply: an actual event, not a paperwork gap. The code gives the division the call.

Any Scottsdale water user with a required backflow assembly, from a restaurant to a home with a sewage ejector. A sprinkler-only line is exempt from shutoff. That protection is for fire safety, not for a domestic line on the same property.

A barbershop with an untested RP. The city mails a 30 day notice. The shop books a certified tester within the window, and nothing else happens.

A property manager who sits on both notices. After the certified mail notice, the manager has 10 days. Water can go off about 40 days after the first mailing, and the tenants lose service until the assembly is repaired and tested. The turn-on fee lands on the next bill.

The edge case: a cross-connection found during a hazard. If an inspector finds a hose connected between a chemical tank and the water line and the city decides the system is contaminating the public supply, subsection (e) lets it disconnect on the spot.

1. 1Open every letter from Scottsdale Water Resources the day it arrives and write down the mailing date.
2. 2Have a certified tester fix or test the assembly inside the 30 days. Our testing page explains the yearly rules.
3. 3If a second certified-mail notice arrives, treat the 10 days as the last chance and call Water Quality at the current number on the city's Commercial Services page the same day.
4. 4After any shutoff, get the test done and ask the city to confirm the turn-on and the fee.
5. 5If a defect appears between tests, repair it at once. Sec. 49-65(c) requires it, and it keeps the notice process from starting.

• "We have 90 days." That figure is from a different rule, the install deadline in Sec. 49-62(c). The shutoff process in 49-66 is 30 days plus 10.
• "A fire sprinkler line can be shut off like any other." The code exempts a sprinkler-only customer supply line from disconnection here.
• "Once the water is back on, it is over." The turn-on fee and any surcharge still land on the bill. The surcharge page explains the other costs.

This page summarizes the code. The adopted text on Municode governs.