Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
- What Is Backflow & Why Does It Matter?
- A Closer Look at the Sprinkler System Risk
- Backflow Prevention Devices: What North Platte Requires
- Nebraska State Law & Local Compliance
- Commercial Properties Have Their Own Requirements
- How Snell Services Can Help with Backflow Compliance
North Platte City is sending backflow check notifications to residents and property owners, and your address may be on the list. Whether you have already received one or want to get ahead of it, understanding your backflow prevention requirements now saves you time, stress, and potential compliance headaches later.
Snell Services handles backflow testing, repair, and installation right here in North Platte. Our licensed technicians take care of the process from start to finish, including the required testing, any needed repairs or installation, and the paperwork that must be submitted for compliance.
What Is Backflow & Why Does It Matter?
Backflow happens when water flows in the wrong direction through your plumbing. Under normal conditions, water pressure keeps your drinking water moving one way: from the city supply into your home or business. But when that pressure drops, a siphon effect can pull water back the other direction, potentially dragging contaminants along with it.
The City of North Platte warns that contaminated water can be drawn back into previously clean water supplies, including underground water mains. The risks range from nuisance odors to serious health hazards, including exposure to soil bacteria, fertilizers, pesticides, and other contaminants that can enter your water supply.
Cross-connection risks exist throughout any property connected to city water. Common sources include underground sprinkler systems, outdoor hose bibbs, garden hoses with chemical attachments, swimming pools and water features, boiler heating systems, and commercial water service lines. If water can flow in, there is a potential pathway for contamination to flow back.
A Closer Look at the Sprinkler System Risk
Underground irrigation is common across Lincoln County and throughout North Platte's neighborhoods, and the vast majority of those systems are tied directly into city water. That connection makes backflow prevention especially important for residential homeowners.
Every time you water your lawn after applying fertilizer or weed control, that chemistry sits in your sprinkler lines and in the soil around them. A functioning Pressure Vacuum Breaker (PVB) is what stands between those materials and your kitchen tap. A device that has gone several years without testing may appear to be working, and you would have no way of knowing until a contamination event has already occurred.
City ordinance requires that backflow devices remain operational and accessible at all times. If your device is found to be defective, it must be repaired or replaced without delay.
Backflow Prevention Devices: What North Platte Requires
North Platte's municipal code is specific about which devices are required and how often they must be tested. Here is a breakdown of the most common types:
- Pressure Vacuum Breakers (PVB): These are the devices most commonly installed on underground lawn sprinkler systems. They are designed to prevent soil bacteria, animal waste, fertilizers, and pesticides from flowing back into your water supply. According to the City of North Platte, PVBs are required to be tested every 3 years.
- Reduced Pressure Principle Assemblies (RP): RPs provide a higher level of protection and are most commonly required on commercial water service lines and systems connected to boiler heating. These devices must be tested annually.
- Hose Bibb Vacuum Breakers (HBVB): These are small, inexpensive devices that attach directly to an outdoor faucet or sill cock where a garden hose connects. They are non-testable devices but provide an important layer of protection at one of the most common cross-connection points in any home or business.
Nebraska State Law & Local Compliance
Backflow compliance in North Platte is governed by both local ordinance and state regulation. The Nebraska Department of Health, under Title 179 Regulations, requires that every facility connected to a public water supply be surveyed for cross-connections once every 5 years. That survey must be completed by the property owner and the results submitted to the city's Water Department.
Under North Platte city ordinance, all work on backflow prevention devices must be performed by a licensed, state-certified tester. The cost of installation, testing, and any needed repairs is the responsibility of the water consumer.
Commercial Properties Have Their Own Requirements
For business owners and commercial property managers, backflow compliance carries additional weight. Commercial facilities connected to city water are typically required to have Reduced Pressure Principle assemblies installed on their service lines, and those devices must be tested annually by a state-certified tester. Records of each inspection, test, repair, and overhaul must be maintained from installation through retirement and submitted to the city's Water Division each year.
The Nebraska Title 179 five-year cross-connection survey requirement applies to commercial facilities as well. If your business has not had a formal cross-connection survey completed within the last five years, that is worth addressing alongside your annual device testing.
How Snell Services Can Help with Backflow Compliance
Snell Services has been serving North Platte homeowners and businesses since 1941. Our licensed plumbing technicians are certified to perform backflow testing, repair defective devices, and install new assemblies that meet city and state requirements.
If you have received a notification from the city, here is what working with us looks like:
- We will schedule a time that works for you
- We inspect your existing backflow prevention device
- We perform the required test
- We complete the necessary documentation and handle the compliance paperwork
- If your device needs repair or replacement, we handle that on the same visit whenever possible
We work on both residential and commercial properties throughout North Platte and the surrounding area. Whether you have a single PVB on your home sprinkler system or multiple devices across a commercial building, our team has the experience and certifications to handle it correctly.
Your Water Quality Is Worth Protecting. Let Us Help You Do It Right.
Call Snell Services at (308) 337-6337 or message us online. Our North Platte office is conveniently located at 2220 W. Front Street, and we are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for your plumbing needs.