Which Youngtown properties need a backflow assembly, and when is it tested?

Section 13.12.060 sets the floor: "An approved backflow preventive assembly of the type specified in this section shall be the minimum installation of each service connection (whether from a fire hydrant, temporary, regular or other water service connection)." A table then marks the assembly for each premises type.

Section 13.12.080 covers testing and records:

• (A), records: the user keeps accurate records of tests and repairs on forms the department approves, with the list of materials or replacement parts used.
• (B), tests: testing, maintenance and repairs are at the customer's expense by a certified tester the department approves. The user sees that tests are made "at the time of the initial installation and at least once a year, on the anniversary date, of the initial inspection."
• (C), notice: "The user shall notify the department fifteen (15) days in advance when the annual tests are to be done, so that an official representative of the department may witness the tests if so desired."
• (D) and (E), new and repaired work: after installation the department inspects before the certificate of occupancy is issued. After repair, repiping, overhaul or relocation the department inspects and a certified tester tests.

• The department: Section 13.12.020 names the public works department.
• User: the code does not define it. The ordinary reading is whoever takes water at the connection.
• Minimum: the table sets a floor, not a ceiling.
• DC, RP, PVB, air gap: the table's four columns. Section 13.12.020 defines each by how it is built. A double check valve assembly is "two independently operating approved check valves" with shutoff valves and test cocks. A reduced pressure principle assembly adds a "differential pressure relief valve located between the check valves". A pressure vacuum breaker assembly has "an independently operating loaded check valve and an independently operating loaded air inlet valve located on the discharge side of the check valve." An air gap is "the unobstructed vertical distance through the free atmosphere" between the supply opening and the vessel's flood level rim. Youngtown's chapter does not rank the four; its table decides which one a premises gets.
• Health hazard vs pollution hazard: Youngtown's chapter does not sort devices by hazard, but Surprise City Code 58-261 does. Where a health hazard is possible, Surprise requires "an approved, fixed proper air gap separation, or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assembly". It allows a double check valve assembly only where the hazard is "a pollution hazard not dangerous to health."

The chapter's purpose clause in Section 13.12.010 is to protect "the public water supply of the town".

Now the other half. The Public Works page says: "Youngtown does not own its water and utilities, so these services are provided by private utility companies," and lists EPCOR Water at (623) 815-3100. Neither source says who enforces Chapter 13.12 for an EPCOR customer. Treat the chapter as the rule on the books, because Section 13.12.120 makes a violation a Class 1 misdemeanor, and ask both Town Hall and EPCOR which one expects the paperwork.

Anyone with a service connection to premises on the table. Section 13.12.110 reaches existing users too: if the department decides an assembly does not meet current standards, the user must retrofit it, and a device is required where the public works director finds a service poses an actual or potential threat to the water system.

A dental office on a commercial strip. Medical and dental buildings are on the table at DC. The tenant's first test is at installation, then yearly on the anniversary of the first inspection.

A car wash. The table marks car wash facilities RP, where it marks shopping centers DC. An RP must go above ground under Section 13.12.050.

The edge case: who sends the reminder. The code puts the duty on the user, not on the department. If the water bill comes from EPCOR, a reminder may never come from the town. Put the anniversary date on your own calendar.

1. 1Find your premises type in the table. Check the cross-connection row if it is not listed.
2. 2Call Town Hall at 623-933-8286 (Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and ask whether the department or EPCOR approves testers and receives reports.
3. 3Put the assembly where Section 13.12.050 says: at the service connection or near the property line, before the first branch line, and accessible. An RP goes above ground, with no bypass around it.
4. 4Use a certified tester the department approves, and keep the test report and any repair records.
5. 5Send the 15-day notice before each annual test.
6. 6For new work, get the department's inspection before the certificate of occupancy.

• Assuming no town water means no town rule. The chapter is still on the books, and a violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor under 13.12.120.
• Assuming the Tolleson or Tempe version applies. Youngtown's table marks several categories DC where Tolleson marks RP, and Youngtown's certificate of occupancy clause asks only for inspection.
• Missing the daily penalty. Section 13.12.120 says each day a violation continues is a separate offense.
• Assuming the town will remind you. The code puts the notice on the user.

Section 13.12.100 lets the department discontinue water service if a required assembly is not installed, tested and maintained, removed or bypassed, or a cross-connection exists, and "service will not be restored until such conditions or defects are corrected." Section 13.12.120 sets a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $2,500, or imprisonment up to six months, or both.

The rules are Youngtown Town Code 13.12.060 and 13.12.080 on Municode. HQ tests and repairs domestic backflow assemblies. This page is an explanation, and the code text governs.