Some Durango utility customers face $150 plumber fees or disconnected water – The Durango Herald

City tries to meet state testing requirements for backflow preventers

The City of Durango does not meet state testing requirements for backflow preventers and is working to change that. Backflow preventers, installed on water lines at some homes and some businesses, keep water flowing in one direction and prevent potentially contaminated water from washing back into the city's water system. They must be tested and reported to the city annually. The city then reports the data it receives to the state. (Courtesy of the City of Durango)

Thousands of residents and businesses in Durango will soon be faced with the choice of either paying about $150 for a plumber or having their water turned off.

Of the city's approximately 7,648 billed service connections, 2,145 utility customers have backflow preventers—water pipe devices that ensure one-directional water flow, preventing contaminated water from flowing back into the city's water system through back siphonage or back pressure.

Some of those customers are now under pressure to prove they tested their return flows or face having their water shut off because the city failed to properly record and report testing data to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

According to the city, every single- or two-family home that meets the following criteria must install and/or test a backflow preventer annually:

  • An irrigation system, such as a sprinkler system, that is connected to the municipal water main and has its own water meter.
  • A fire extinguishing system.
  • Additional water sources such as wells, ponds, irrigation ditches and cisterns.
  • A hot tub or swimming pool with permanently installed plumbing.
  • A grey water system.

Other property owners who may be responsible for testing backflow preventers include buildings with water supplies connected to radiant floor heating systems, hydroponic systems, doctor's or dentist's offices, photo labs, leather tanneries and metal plating plants, according to the city.

All apartment buildings with three or more residential units are also required to report tests.

The CDPHE requires all backflow prevention device owners to have their backflow prevention devices inspected annually by certified backflow inspectors; the City of Durango also requires this by city ordinance.

However, not all backflow preventer owners are required to provide proof of testing. They are advised to keep the proof for three years, said Laura Rieck, spokeswoman for Durango Public Works. However, if a customer has an irrigation system such as a sprinkler system with its own connection to the city water main and its own water meter, it must provide proof of testing annually.

An irrigation system with its own faucet and meter is highly unusual, says Rieck.

Of the 2,145 owners of backflow irrigation systems, 1,177 nonresidential property owners are required to report their testing to the city. There are 884 residential units with backflow irrigation systems, but it is unclear how many of those are required to report their testing. (The city is aware of 84 owners with backflow preventers who may be required to report their testing.)

Some customers and certified inspectors have already submitted proof of backflow testing in 2023. However, this was not recorded by the city and they are now being asked to submit proof of testing again.

“There was a mistake in this part – the documentation,” Rieck said. “… No one who currently works here was responsible for our failure to comply with the regulations.”

The city of Durango announced last month that it was out of compliance with CDPHE regulations.

Allison Baker, director of Durango's public works department, said last month that the recording errors were administrative in nature and did not constitute a health or drinking water emergency. In other words, residents do not need to boil their water.

Denise Martin of Advance Fire Systems Inc., which employs technicians certified to test backflows for a number of commercial and residential customers with sprinkler systems, said her office has been inundated with calls since customers began receiving letters from the city asking for proof of tests performed.

“We are being inundated with calls demanding return certificates because people in Durango are getting letters,” she said.

The thing is that Advance Fire Systems has provided data for 2023 on multiple occasions, she said.

Martin said some of her clients were surprised by the city's letters and called her to ask why the city had not received any test evidence.

“I don't know what's going on,” she said. “… We heard there was a record-keeping issue in January or February, and we brought them (the city) a USB stick with all the returns from 2023. And they called our customers and said they never received that test; customers called us and asked, 'Where are those tests?' So if they call again or ask again, I just re-sent them to them.”

She said most of the return flows for which the city requested audit evidence last month were previously unknown or had been shut down and are no longer in use.

Mayor Jessika Buell said she could not comment on possible recordings or test reports, which the city is not tracking, without first receiving more information from city staff, but said the city has no ill intentions.

“We've had turnover in our building department. Is that the reason? There are a lot of 'what if' questions that I don't know the answers to. … But I don't think we want to be unfair to the citizens who this applies to,” she said.

Rieck said the public health violations prompted the city to update its backflow ordinance and improve the backflow test forms used by inspectors. Inspectors must indicate on the forms whether backflows are installed on service lines serving single-family homes, duplexes or multi-family dwellings.

Notice to customers to come with electricity and gas bills

Residents will receive a notice with their Aug. 20 bills detailing the situation and identifying who is required to conduct the backflow testing, Rieck said. The notice will also include information on how the testing must be done. A copy of the notice is also available on the city's website.

The notice mentions that the city failed to report the required percentage of return flow audits to CDPHE last year and received two violations in 2023 for missing reports.

The lack of reporting was discovered by the city and reported to CDPHE in May, the statement said.

The City is currently working to contact testers whose records may never have been submitted to the City or testers who have submitted tests previously.

Baker said the city is also implementing a notification process to notify anyone who is required to file an annual report and has not done so. These notifications will be sent by mail and/or email at 30-, 60- and 75-day intervals. If no action is taken within 75 days, the utility's customers will have their water shut off “until the problem is corrected.”

Having a certified technician perform a backflow preventer test costs about $150, and under Durango law, the bill is paid by the customer, she said.

Rieck added that testing private irrigation systems costs about $80, with costs for commercial and industrial testing rising to about $200.

Owners of backflow preventers must report the test to the city within five days of their device being tested, the notice states. They must email proof of the test to [email protected], the city's utilities department's Cross-Connection Control Program Office.

Baker said customers who are unsure if they meet the requirements or want more information are asked to call the CCCP office at 375-4801 or visit the city's backflow prevention webpage.

[email protected]

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the city knew of 84 backflow prevention device owners with irrigation systems who were not required to report their tests. The 84 backflow prevention device owners do not have irrigation systems and it is unknown if they are required to report. The article also confused “licensed plumbers” with “certified technicians.” The latter are authorized to perform backflow tests and the information must be updated in the technicians' reports.

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