Frozen Backflow Devices

Your backflow device may be frozen and you not know it.

And you may not know it until you start running your sprinkler system in the Spring. Other places discover it immediately because water started going everywhere!

Here are a couple of pictures of backflow devices we have been repairing for Texas WalMarts. If you weren't caught off guard with the very cold weather we had recently, you're in the minority.

If you're a Waco resident (under Waco water jurisdiction) you may be in for a surprise. Waco's code has changed. If your sprinkler's or commercial building's backflow device is the old kind--and it froze so it no longer functions, you'll have to bring it "up to code."

What does "up to code" mean? It just means your existing system will have to meet the same requirements that a new system would have to meet. Here's the short story:

Your yard is now classified as a "high hazard" from a risk to the potable water standpoint. That means you need a special kind of backflow device called a Reduced Pressure Zone (RPZ or RP). Two important aspects are that it is another expense and it can't be buried.

And THAT brings me back to why we've been so busy lately. We have been repairing and replacing unprotected, uninsulated backflow devices that froze. Part of the new code for Waco is that your fancy new backflow device has to be protected from the cold--so you won't have to do this again.

If we can help, please call us at 254.829.3800. We're licensed to repair and replace backflow devices.