If you own a commercial building in Maryland or Washington, DC, your backflow preventer is one of the most important aspects of your building’s plumbing system. Your backflow preventer is, naturally, a device that prevents backflow (dirty, used water from sinks, soda machines, fire pumps, etc) from accidentally moving from your out-flowing pipes back into your building’s potable water system.

What causes backflow?

There are two ways that backflow can occur in your plumbing system:

• Backpressure backflow, which occurs when the downstream pressure (pressure of water leaving the house) is greater than the upstream pressure (pressure going into the house).
• Backsiphonage, which occurs when you have negative pressure caused by a vacuum or partial vacuum in either the public water system or your home’s plumbing system.

Both types of backflow occur most commonly as a result of sudden drops in the water supply, such as a water main break.

Where should you install a backflow preventer?

Backflow preventers can be found as part of pretty much every plumbing device in your building, including:

• Toilets
• Showers
• Sinks
• Dishwashers
• Exhaust hoods
• Hose bibs
• Ice makers
• Coffee makers
• Cooling towers
• Heat exchangers
• Swimming pools
• Wall hydrants
• Hospital equipment
• Culinary pressure cookers
• Carbonated beverage systems
• Fire sprinklers

Why are backflow preventers important?

Backflow preventers are crucial in commercial environments. In fact, there have been numerous reports of failed backflow preventers throughout the country, including:

• A cross-connection aboard an Alaskan crab processing ship that resulted in backflow of sewage and caused 189 employees to get sick as well as endangered about $35 million worth of processed crab.
• Copper sediment that got into a beverage mixing tank and caused four people in a residence hall at a university in Michigan to get sick.
• Carbonated water that back-pressured into the potable water supply through faulty check valves on soda dispensing equipment in a San Antonio lounge.
• At a large public meeting facility and sports arena in Seattle, bright blue water was flowing from drinking fountains in the lobby and sinks in the concession area. Several people reported general nausea. The pressure of the carbonation equipment far exceeded pressure in the water main.

If you need backflow preventer testing or backflow preventer installation in Maryland or Washington, DC, call Wheat & Sons today!