Cross-Connection Control Program and Health Hazard Assessments For PWSs

• Texas Drinking Water Solutions offers technical and compliance assistance to owners, operators, and officials of public water systems (PWS), as well as facilities and businesses regarding customer service inspection requirements and field assessment activities that provide for the identification of actual or potential high-health hazards and processes which require internal and external backflow protection.
• PWSs are required to ensure that all water treatment and distribution facilities are protected from cross-connections and backflow contamination and that no actual or potential contamination hazard or cross-connection exists between the public drinking water supply system and any residence, establishment, equipment, or process. All PWSs are required to provide adequate protection from any source that poses an actual or potential contamination hazard through the proper installation and required testing of approved backflow prevention assemblies or the use of an air gap in accordance with 30 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Chapter 290.
• As described in 30 TAC Chapter 290, PWSs are required to adopt either an adequate plumbing ordinance, regulations, or service agreement with provisions for proper enforcement to ensure that neither cross-connections nor other unacceptable plumbing practices are permitted.
• To ensure that neither cross-connections nor other unacceptable plumbing practices exist, all PWSs are required to ensure that a Customer Service Inspection (CSI) and certificate have been completed under these conditions:
  • prior to providing continuous water service to new construction;
  • on any existing service either when the water purveyor has reason to believe that cross-connections or other potential contaminant hazards exist; or
  • after any material improvement, correction, or addition to the private water distribution facilities.
• TDWS provides cooperative regulatory coordination with TCEQ concerning cross-connection control and backflow prevention requirements in accordance with 30 TAC Chapter 290 and industry recommended practices.

Related Cross-Connection Control and Backflow information links:

TCEQ – Cross-Connection Control and Backflow Prevention

TCEQ – RG-478 Establishing and Managing an Effective Cross-Connection Control Program

TCEQ – Cross-Connection Control Subcommittee2012 International Plumbing Code

EPA RTCR – Cross-Connection Control Manual

American Water Works Association (AWWA) – M14 Backflow Prevention and Cross-Connection Control: Recommended Practices, Fourth Edition https://www.awwa.org/store/productdetail.aspx?productid=46494412 and https://www.awwa.org/Portals/0/files/publications/documents/M14LookInside.pdf