{"id":96118,"date":"2019-01-18T16:34:55","date_gmt":"2019-01-18T23:34:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/to-prevent-water-contamination-cortez-pushing-for-full-backflow-compliance\/"},"modified":"2019-01-18T16:34:55","modified_gmt":"2019-01-18T23:34:55","slug":"to-prevent-water-contamination-cortez-pushing-for-full-backflow-compliance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/to-prevent-water-contamination-cortez-pushing-for-full-backflow-compliance\/","title":{"rendered":"To prevent water contamination, Cortez pushing for full backflow compliance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Tony
Tony Hernandez, city of Cortez cross-connection administrator, gestures to the discharge valve on a large backflow assembly that serves the irrigation system at Parque de Vida.<\/span>Sean Dolan\/The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Since 2005, Tony Hernandez has been hard at work on the Cortez backflow prevention program.<\/p>\n

By the end of this year, Hernandez, cross-connection administrator for the Cortez Public Works Department, said he plans to have 100 percent of residential water connections in the city evaluated for cross-connections and if needed, controlled for backflow prevention.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s one year ahead of the schedule stipulated by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.<\/p>\n

The city has addressed mobile home parks, RV parks and large apartment complexes, he said, adding that about 30 apartment units still need to be evaluated. And in 2015, the city replaced more than 3,000 manual water meters with automatic meters with built-in backflow prevention assemblies.<\/p>\n

Hernandez said single-family homes don\u2019t have to worry about backflow prevention unless they have a buried irrigation system. Apartment complexes and multifamily units with a single meter are required to have a backflow assembly. He said the city will give residents time to come into compliance.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we\u2019re just looking at smaller duplexes, triplexes that are in residential areas,\u201d Hernandez said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an task that could save lives and prevent outbreaks of waterborne disease. A cross-connection occurs whenever the public water system connects to a residential or commercial building. A backflow prevention assembly protects the public water supply from contamination in the case of a backflow event.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a cross-connection is discovered, it needs to be controlled, and so it\u2019s controlled with backflow prevention assemblies or backflow prevention methods,\u201d Jorge Delgado, senior field engineer and backflow prevention and cross-connection control specialist for CDPHE, said.<\/p>\n

New state regulations<\/div>\n

Delgado said Colorado has regulated cross-connections since the 1960s. In 2015, the Colorado General Assembly updated those rules and added a cross-connection and backflow prevention control rule.<\/p>\n

Before the changes went into effect on Jan. 1, 2016, Delgado said CDPHE engaged stakeholders and found that most water system managers in Colorado were checking about half their systems for cross-connections.<\/p>\n

Now, water systems are required to evaluate a progressively higher percentage of nonsingle-family residences for cross-connections annually, up to 100 percent by Dec. 31, 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been three years since it\u2019s been in effect, and we\u2019re moving forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Delgado said Colorado is \u201cdefinitely\u201d on track to meet that 2020 goal. He said CDPHE performs sanitary surveys and issues violations for water systems that don\u2019t meet the department\u2019s compliance ratios, which hasn\u2019t been a problem in Cortez.<\/p>\n

He said CDPHE performed a sanitary survey in Cortez in Feb. 2018 and found nothing wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cCortez \u2013 the last time our inspector went out there \u2013 there was no compliance issues and that is the current status,\u201d Delgado said.<\/p>\n

Hernandez said Cortez is at more than 90 percent compliance on evaluating connections. The state required 80 percent compliance by Dec. 31, 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re ahead of the curve as far as that, and we\u2019ve got a full year to get the rest of them done and we\u2019ll be 100 percent compliant as far as the state is concerned,\u201d Hernandez said.<\/p>\n

Who cares?<\/div>\n

In simple terms, Hernandez explained the importance of backflow prevention.<\/p>\n

If, for example, someone wants to spray weed killer, they might dilute the chemicals by placing a hose in a bucket. During a backflow event, instead of spraying water into the bucket, negative pressure would suck those chemicals back into the public water supply.<\/p>\n

A backflow valve prevents that from happening. Hardware stores sell \u00be-inch assemblies starting at $100.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a fail-safe system,\u201d Hernandez said.<\/p>\n

He said a backflow event might occur if there\u2019s a water main break downhill from a home. The backflow preventer has two check valves and one discharge valve, he said. The preventer would close the check valve in a backflow event and discharge the polluted water to prevent contamination to the building or the public water system.<\/p>\n

There are plenty of situations that call for a backflow preventer.<\/p>\n

Greg Naugle, fuel services manager for CDPHE, said fire suppression systems often mix a type of antifreeze called ethylene glycol while connected to a potable waterline.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat backflow prevention assembly on that fire suppression keeps in the ethylene glycol from bleeding back into the drinking waterline,\u201d Naugle said.<\/p>\n

The number of possible backflow contamination issues varies from year to year. In 2018, Delgado said CDPHE became aware of three potential contamination events. Two were isolated to buildings with backflow prevention. In a third instance, in Sterling, Colorado, Delgado said CDPHE wasn\u2019t sure if contamination occurred, so they issued a local water bottle advisory.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Health Department, we don\u2019t play the guessing game of, \u2018Hey, did it happen or not?\u2019\u201d Delgado said. \u201cIf you can\u2019t prove that it didn\u2019t happen, we\u2019re going to take action to protect the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

Delgado said CDPHE isn\u2019t trying to scare people, but if there is a severe chemical contamination event, someone could die.<\/p>\n

sdolan@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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