Backflow Testing and Cross-Connection Control — Melbourne, Florida

The City of Melbourne operates a cross-connection control program, abbreviated CCC, because state rules require one. The city Cross Connection Control page states that all public water systems must develop and implement such a program under section (2) of Florida Administrative Code 62-555.360, and that its purpose is to protect water quality by preventing the backflow of water from a customer's plumbing into the public water system.

Backflow, in the city's definition, is the reversal of the flow of water created by a difference in water pressures, which causes water to flow back into the distribution pipes of a potable water supply. Melbourne's distribution pipes carry water from the John A. Buckley and Joe Mullins treatment plants to a wide service area, so a single unprotected connection on one property can reach mains shared by many customers.

That service area extends well beyond the city limits. According to the Water Treatment and Distribution page, Melbourne supplies drinking water to Melbourne, Melbourne Beach, Indialantic, Indian Harbour Beach, Satellite Beach, Palm Shores, Melbourne Village and unincorporated Brevard County south of the Pineda Causeway, with wholesale service to West Melbourne. The city's backflow reporting rules are written around that water service area, which means a tester working at a property in Indialantic or Satellite Beach files results through the Melbourne system.

The city Backflow FAQ defines a cross-connection as any temporary, permanent or potential connection between a public water system or a consumer's potable water system and any source or system containing non-potable water or other substances. The examples Melbourne gives are ordinary household ones: an irrigation or drinking water well on the property, access to reclaimed water, and a garden hose left in a pool.

A backflow prevention assembly is the mechanism that stops water from reversing direction at such a point. The Melbourne FAQ explains why these devices cannot simply be installed and forgotten: mechanical assemblies have internal seals, springs and moving parts that are subject to fouling, wear or fatigue.

Reclaimed water connections bring their own requirements. The city's How to Get Reclaimed Water page states that an approved backflow prevention device shall be installed on all potable water services to a property that takes reclaimed water, that certain setback distances apply between the two systems, and that a cross-connection inspection conducted by the City of Melbourne is required at the time of connection and periodically afterward. Any other irrigation source must be completely disconnected before a system is converted to reclaimed water.

Testing follows a fixed calendar. According to the Melbourne Backflow FAQ, an assembly must be tested and certified upon installation and at least once a year after that by a certified backflow tester. The tester documents the result on a Test and Maintenance Report form, which the city's Environmental Compliance office supplies on request.

Property owners choose the tester. The city publishes a list of local certified backflow prevention assembly technicians but describes it as provided for reference only, states that City of Melbourne Utilities Operations does not recommend any one company, and notes that owners may use a certified technician who is not on the list. The list carries an update date of May 27, 2021. One category is narrower: fire line backflow preventers must be tested by holders of Licensed Fire Contractor I, II or V licenses.

Questions about the Melbourne program go to the city's Environmental Compliance office at 321-608-5125, according to the Cross Connection Control page.

Melbourne does not take paper reports. Its Compliance Engine page explains that the city's Fire Prevention and Utilities Operations Divisions adopted an online program for fire and life safety system reports and for backflow test and maintenance reports, and selected The Compliance Engine by Brycer as a single point reporting system for both. Reports must be submitted through that system within 10 business days of the inspection, and the city does not accept fax, email or mailed reports.

The list of tracked systems mixes fire equipment and water equipment. Alongside sprinkler systems, fire alarms, fire pumps and kitchen hood suppression, it includes the Potable Water Backflow Assembly and the Fire Line Backflow Assembly, identified by the abbreviations DCDA and DDC. Melbourne treats both kinds of report through one portal so that the Fire Prevention and Utilities Operations staff see the same records.

The change applies to the people doing the work rather than to owners' choice of vendor. The Compliance Engine page states that property and business owners may keep using the same vendors as in past years, and may look up their own property records in the system. Contractors who test or maintain backflow assemblies within Melbourne's water service area must register with the third-party system, and Brycer provides complimentary registration, help and training. Brycer's line for Melbourne questions is 630-413-9511.

The state rule behind the Melbourne program is Florida Administrative Code 62-555.360, Cross-Connection Control for Public Water Systems, administered by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The flrules.org record shows the rule first took effect on November 19, 1987, was renumbered from 17-22.660 and later 17-555.360, and was most recently amended effective May 5, 2014.

The 2014 amendment narrowed what utilities such as Melbourne must demand of households. A rulemaking notice in the record states the amendments were meant to significantly reduce the overall regulatory burden of cross-connection control requirements on community water systems and their residential customers, beginning with allowing a dual check device. The rule history also records later challenges and petitions, including a 2017 variance petition concerning the requirement in 62-555.360(2)(a) that each community water system establish and implement a cross-connection control program, which is the same obligation the City of Melbourne cites on its program page.

A side effect of backflow protection shows up at the water heater. The City of Melbourne thermal expansion page explains that heated water cannot expand back into the public water system because of the backflow device, so pressure may build up in the water heater tank and household plumbing. That pressure usually opens the temperature and pressure relief valve, and under certain conditions, such as failure of that valve or of a thermal expansion tank, a water heater may rupture.

The same Melbourne page notes that current plumbing codes require thermal expansion relief devices in closed systems, that newer residences may already have one installed while some older homes may not, and that signs include water discharging from the heater's drain piping or abnormally high pressure when a tap is first opened. The City of Melbourne Utilities Operations office takes questions at (321) 608-5126.