Backflow Prevention: Rules in Phoenix-Area Cities

It depends on the equipment. The county guide requires a reduced-pressure or other testable continuous-pressure device on carbonators, a testable high-hazard preventer such as an RPZ upstream of any reverse osmosis system, vacuum breakers on submerged inlets, and a device or air gap on all water-supplied equipment. Copper and brass stay out downstream of carbonator and RO.

Not without written approval from the Water Services Director. Phoenix bars any connection between city water and another water source, such as a well, cooling loop or reclaimed line. Where an auxiliary supply is approved, the service needs an air gap or reduced pressure (RP) assembly at the meter.

Yes. Phoenix requires a plumbing permit to install, alter or replace a backflow assembly, and the inspection costs $195 for the first device and $98 for each additional. The 2024 building code exempts repair or replacement of an existing secondary assembly 2 inches or smaller if a certified tester's report is submitted.

Phoenix City Code Chapter 37 runs the city's cross-connection control program. Where a property has a backflow hazard, the owner must install an approved backflow assembly, have it tested every year by a certified tester, and file the results with the city. The rules sit in sections 37-141 through 37-146.

The customer, meaning whoever controls the water system, must get a permit for any assembly, have a certified tester test it at least once a year, file the results on city forms, keep records three years, and pay for repairs. A failed assembly must be fixed and retested. Fire lines need a certified tester who also holds Fire Marshal permission.

Phoenix can charge a civil penalty of up to 1,000 percent of your water charges for each billing period until the problem is fixed, and it can shut off water. Shutoff takes ten days' written notice, or none if the city sees a health hazard. The city can also install the assembly itself and bill you for it.

Put a required Phoenix backflow assembly as close as practicable to the water meter, above ground, on private property, and never in a pit, vault, meter box or basement. Leave at least 12 inches under it and a 3-foot clear space around a secondary assembly for testing.

Phoenix lists the uses that need a city backflow assembly. Restaurants, supermarkets and car washes need an air gap or reduced pressure (RP) assembly. Retail shell buildings with several tenants on one service need an RP. Single-family homes are exempt unless a cross connection is found. The assembly goes as close as practicable to the water meter.

Yes. Scottsdale can disconnect a customer supply line for a missing, bypassed, removed or badly tested backflow assembly, or an unprotected cross-connection. It first mails a 30 day notice, then a certified-mail notice giving 10 more days. It can shut off without notice if your system is contaminating the public supply.

Yes. Scottsdale requires a permit for each backflow assembly, including a replacement, and the installation must be finished within 45 days. The assembly goes in an accessible spot as close as possible to the service connection. New projects must show it on plans and pass a certified test before a temporary certificate of occupancy.

Scottsdale requires every backflow assembly to be tested at least once a year by a certified individual the city recognizes. The city mails a notice when a test is due. A failed assembly must be repaired or replaced within 45 days of that notice, and the owner must send the test record to the city within 7 days.

After written notice, a Scottsdale owner has 90 days to install a required backflow device or 30 days to take another required action. If the deadline passes, the city may install the device and bill you, or shut off water. Non-compliance also triggers the code's 150 percent water-rate adjustment for at least one billing cycle.

A double check valve assembly is required on a Scottsdale fire sprinkler system during new commercial construction, when a Class 1 or 2 system is modified and needs new hydraulic calculations, when an old single check shows defects or lacks inspection records, or when the system is a hazard. Violations carry fines up to $1,000 a day.

Scottsdale recognizes four backflow protection types: air gap, reduced pressure (RP), double check (DC) and pressure vacuum breaker (PVB). Every device must be lead free, carry USC Foundation, ASSE or other approved listing, and have a local parts and service center. The city picks the type from four hazard factors: health, plumbing, nonhealth and system.

Scottsdale presumes a hazard, and requires an assembly at each service connection, for 54 listed uses. Restaurants, car washes, beauty shops, medical buildings, plumbing over 34 feet above the service connection and buildings with sewage ejectors, house pumps or storage tanks need a reduced pressure (RP) assembly. Fire lines and irrigation have their own rules.

Yes. Mesa Water Resources may terminate water service if backflow protection is missing, removed, bypassed or not working, if the annual test or its records are late, or if an unprotected cross connection exists. If the hazard is imminent it can act immediately. Service stays off until the problem is fixed and penalties and fees are paid.

Mesa requires each backflow assembly on the plans with its manufacturer, model and size, and the city must approve the installation before the permit issues. Adding or removing equipment that could create a hazard triggers a new inspection within 30 days, and a required assembly goes in within 60 days of the notice.

Mesa requires a double check valve assembly (DCVA) on a fire sprinkler connected only to city water with no additives. Antifreeze, corrosion inhibitors, foam, an auxiliary supply, private hydrants or a combined fire and domestic service call for a reduced pressure assembly (RPA). Existing systems are exempt until modified or a trigger occurs.

Mesa requires every backflow assembly to be tested and serviced once a year before the city's compliance date, by a Mesa-recognized tester, at the customer's cost. A defect found between tests must be repaired within 15 days, a repaired assembly retested within 24 hours, and each test record filed within 7 days.

Mesa matches the device to the hazard: an RPA or air gap for health hazards and backpressure, a DCVA only for non-health hazards, and PVB or SVB for backsiphonage only. Install the service assembly at or near the point of delivery and before the first branch line, at least as large as the service, at the customer's cost.

Mesa requires a backflow device at the equipment itself, not only at the meter. Section 8-1-9 lists the device for each item: an RPA for dental chairs, boilers, car wash gear and carbonated beverage dispensers, a DCVA or dual check for ice makers, and an air gap for sewage pumps. Devices must be tested each year.

Mesa City Code 8-1-8 lists the uses that need a backflow assembly at the service connection, and most commercial ones need a reduced pressure assembly (RPA). Restaurants, medical and dental buildings, car washes, laundries, buildings over three stories and multi-tenant buildings on one service all appear. Two or more listed uses on one service mean an RPA.

Only a tester the city recognizes may test or maintain a backflow assembly in Mesa. To be recognized, a tester submits an application, signs the city's tester agreement, proves certification and files a current gauge accuracy report. Equipment must be calibrated every year, and late test records or improper protocol can lead to discipline.

Yes. Chandler requires every backflow device on a city potable water service line to be tested once a year by a certified tester, at the owner's expense. The city sends notices 60, 30 and 5 days out, and if no passing report arrives by the compliance date, water service is shut off the next working day.

Chandler requires backflow assemblies to be specified and located on the construction plans for new buildings, additions with new water services and changes of use, and the city must approve them before the building permit is issued. Once installed, the owner must have each assembly inspected and tested at least once a year.

Chandler Code 52-39 gives an existing water connection 60 days from written notice to have a backflow device installed and inspected. Section 52-34.2 separately says the customer installs it immediately, at the customer's own expense, and that failing to do so is grounds to discontinue water service until the device is installed and tested.

Chandler picks the backflow device by hazard, not by business type. Health hazards, auxiliary water supplies and uncontrolled cross-connections need an air gap or a reduced pressure principle (RP) assembly. A substance that is objectionable but not hazardous to health needs a double check valve assembly. City Code 52-36(D) sets the rules.

At a facility that handles, stores or uses hazardous materials that may pose a risk to the water system, Chandler's Director of Public Works requires backflow testing by an independent agent the city selects. The city bills the water user a surcharge for it, and the customer pays for any repairs, using a tester from the Director's approved list.

Yes. Gilbert amends IPC 608.17.1.1 so the water supply connection to each carbonated beverage dispenser is protected by a reduced pressure principle (RP) backflow assembly. The part of the device after its second check valve, and the piping after that, must not be affected by carbon dioxide gas. The Town inspects backflow before a certificate of occupancy.

Gilbert Town Code 10-92 requires an approved backflow assembly on each water service line, except single-family homes, before a certificate of occupancy issues. Subsection (c) lists 40 facility types: mostly reduced pressure (RP) assemblies, with double checks for tall buildings, laundries, food processing and medical and dental buildings.

In Gilbert, an assembly is tested when installed and at least once a year after that, and again after any relocation or repair, at the owner's expense. A defective assembly must be repaired or replaced within 45 days or as the officer specifies. Only Town-approved testers may test, and ignored violations can bring fines and a water shutoff.

If a Tempe backflow assembly is stolen, report the theft to Tempe Police, then replace it promptly with the same type of assembly. Replacing or relocating one needs a plumbing permit, and after any repair, overhaul or move the city inspects it and a certified tester retests it under City Code 33-107(e).

In Tempe, a required backflow assembly must be shown on the construction plans for new buildings, additions with new services and changes of use, and the city must approve it before the building permit is issued. Section 33-104 then sets where it goes, how big it is, and that a reduced pressure assembly stays above ground.

Tempe City Code 33-105 lists the premises that must have a backflow assembly on each water service connection: shopping centers, food processing, hospitals, car washes, laundries, tall buildings, booster pumps and about 35 more. Most get a reduced pressure assembly; a few low-hazard cases get a double check. Restaurants are not named in the table.

Tempe City Code 33-107 makes the water user responsible for testing every required backflow assembly at installation and at least once a year, at the user's expense, using a Tempe-approved certified tester. The city mails a notice first, and a missed test can end in a water shutoff under 33-109.

Tempe's amended IPC 608.7.2 requires a reduced pressure backflow assembly at each point of service delivery for hospitals, surgical clinics, medical buildings, laboratories, morgues, veterinary hospitals, grooming shops, industrial occupancies, plants that handle food or chemicals, auxiliary water systems and construction water services. Interconnected services need at least a double check each.

Tempe City Code 33-109 lets the department discontinue water to a premises when a required backflow assembly is not installed, tested and maintained, has been removed or bypassed, or a cross-connection exists. Service is not restored until the defect is corrected. Section 33-110 adds retrofit orders and 33-111 makes violations misdemeanors, each day a new violation.

Queen Creek tracks backflow assemblies through Backflow Solutions, Inc. (BSI). The tester files each annual test report on BSI Online and pays a $14.95 filing fee per report. Reports are rejected, and the customer is listed as non-compliant, if the tester's license or test kit calibration certificates are not current on file with BSI.

Yes. Glendale requires a backflow installation permit for every new installation, retrofit and replacement of an existing assembly. You pull it at the Development Services Center, then call the permit line for an inspection after installation. The city does not accept test reports on a new or replaced assembly without the permit and inspection.

Glendale City Code 33-90 lists 51 kinds of businesses and uses that must have a backflow device at the water service connection. Restaurants, bakeries, hotels, schools, hospitals, car washes, laundries, multi-family buildings and buildings over 34 feet need a reduced pressure (RP) assembly. Shopping centers and buildings with house pumps need a double check (DC).

Glendale requires a backflow device on a fire sprinkler service where Sec. 33-90 calls for one, installed at the service connection to the city's standard specification. If the city wants uninterrupted water during testing, two devices go in parallel. Modifying an existing fire-only service brings the whole system up to current rules.

Glendale requires every backflow device to be tested and serviced at least once a year by a tester the city certifies. If it fails, the customer repairs or replaces it. The customer keeps records on city forms and sends a copy to the city promptly. A missing, untested or bypassed device can lead to a water shutoff after two notices.

In Glendale, every backflow device the project needs must be shown and specified on the required building and engineering plans, and the city must approve the intended installation before it issues any building or engineering permit. A plan set with the device missing can hold up the whole permit.

Yes. Surprise Municipal Code 58-260(a) requires an approved backflow device on every commercial and industrial connection to the city's drinking water system. The city can also order one at other properties, and once it does the customer has 45 days to install it, test it and send the documentation, unless the city sets a shorter deadline.

Under Surprise Municipal Code 58-259, initial and requested backflow test reports go to the city within 48 hours of the test, and annual recertification reports within ten working days of the renewal date. The tester must be ADEQ-recognized and on the city's approved list, and the city will not accept a failed report as complete.

Avondale City Code 24-10 requires each customer to have its backflow assemblies tested and serviced at least once a year by a certified tester, at the customer's expense. A failed assembly is repaired and retested until it passes, and a copy of each record goes to the city within seven days of the work.

Avondale's code has no list of business types that need backflow assemblies. Under City Code 24-6, the city decides the method from the activities on the premises: an air gap for hazardous activities, a reduced-pressure assembly on every domestic connection near the meter, and double check assemblies on water-only fire sprinkler lines.

Buckeye City Code 17-4-3 requires backflow prevention at every service connection the city finds could be contaminated from inside the user's system, and fits every service connection except single-family homes with an assembly. Owners test each assembly yearly, repair failures within 10 days, and the city can end water service for a missing or failing assembly.

Tolleson City Code 10-7-7 makes the user give the Building Department 15 days notice before each annual backflow test so a city representative can witness it. A city-approved certified tester tests at least yearly on the anniversary of the first inspection, and new or repaired assemblies are inspected before the certificate of occupancy.

Tolleson City Code 10-7-5 lists the premises that need an approved backflow assembly as the minimum at every service connection, including food processing, laundries, car washes, medical and dental buildings, shopping centers and buildings over three stories or 34 feet. The table marks most of them reduced pressure (RP). Restaurants are not listed by name.

Yes. El Mirage City Code 50.128 requires an installation permit from the Department before any required backflow assembly goes in, and a separate permit for each assembly, including a replacement. The code text states a $39 fee, but the next section says fees are set by Council resolution, and the FY26-27 fee schedule has no backflow line.

Youngtown Town Code 13.12.060 lists the premises that need an approved backflow assembly as the minimum at each service connection, including food processing, car washes, medical and dental buildings and shopping centers. Section 13.12.080 requires a yearly test by an approved tester and 15 days notice. The town's page says it does not own its water.