Backflow Prevention Installation
A backflow preventer protects your drinking water from contamination. It has to work.
Wes installs and tests backflow prevention assemblies for irrigation systems, commercial applications, and residential supply lines.
Why backflow prevention matters
Without it, contaminated water can enter the potable supply.
Backflow happens when pressure in the potable supply drops and water is siphoned backward from a connected system into the drinking water line. An irrigation system with lawn chemicals, a fire sprinkler system, or a hose bib with a submerged hose can all introduce contaminants into the potable supply if back-siphonage is possible.
The pressure drop that causes it is not rare. A water main break down the street, a hydrant opened for a fire, or a big draw somewhere on the same line can pull the pressure in your service line below the pressure sitting in your sprinkler zones. When that happens, water moves the wrong direction. Whatever is sitting in the irrigation piping goes with it. On a lawn that got fertilized or treated last week, that is not water anybody wants coming out of a kitchen tap.
Plumbers call the spot where the two systems meet a cross-connection. Every house has a few. The hose bib is one every time somebody leaves a hose sitting in a bucket. A boiler loop is another, and so is a chemical injector on a well system out in Douglas County. The device goes at the cross-connection, and which device depends on how bad the stuff on the other side of it is.
A properly selected, installed, and tested backflow prevention assembly stops that. Different applications require different types: pressure vacuum breakers for irrigation, reduced pressure zone assemblies for higher hazard, and double-check valves for lower hazard connections. Wes sizes and selects the assembly for the actual connection instead of putting the same device on every job. Get a quote.
- Pressure vacuum breaker (PVB) for irrigation
- RPZ assembly for high-hazard connections
- Double-check valve assemblies
- Hose bib vacuum breakers
- Fire suppression system backflow
- Commercial backflow prevention
- Boiler and hydronic loop isolation
- Well and chemical feed cross-connections
Installation requirements
The right device, properly located.
Backflow preventers have specific installation requirements: minimum height above the highest downstream outlet, protection from freezing, access for annual testing. In Colorado, most municipalities require annual testing of testable assemblies by a certified backflow tester. Wes is a certified tester as well as a licensed master plumber, so installation and annual testing come from the same source.
Height matters more than most homeowners expect. A pressure vacuum breaker has to sit at least twelve inches above the highest sprinkler head it feeds, and on a sloped Front Range lot that can mean the head up at the top of the yard, not the one by the patio. Put the PVB too low and it will pass a test on the bench and still fail to protect anything in the ground. That is the kind of detail that separates a legal install from one the water authority sends back.
The other half of it is freeze. An outdoor assembly in Littleton sees single digits every winter, and the poppet and bonnet sit full of water. Wes installs assemblies where they can be drained and blown out at the end of the season, and adds an insulated enclosure where the location leaves the device exposed. Indoors, an RPZ dumps water out its relief port when it does its job, so it needs a floor drain or a routed discharge line under it. Setting one over a finished basement floor with no drain is how a good device turns into a flooded room.
Access counts too. A tester needs to get hoses on all the test cocks and read a differential gauge without lying on his back in a window well. Wes leaves clearance around the assembly, sets the shutoffs where a hand can actually reach them, and labels the line so the next person knows what he is looking at. If the assembly serves a system he also worked on, like a boiler install or a new irrigation manifold, all of it gets tied together on one permit.
- Correct device selection for hazard level
- Height and location per local code
- Freeze protection for outdoor installations
- Annual test and report
- Water authority notification
- Isolation valve and test cocks
- Relief discharge routed to a drain
- Clearance left for the next tester
Failed or cracked backflow preventers
After a freeze or at end of service life.
A backflow preventer that has frozen and cracked no longer provides any protection. A PVB that does not hold on an annual test needs repair or replacement. Wes repairs and replaces failed assemblies and provides the updated test report to the water authority. See our work.
Most of the failures we see on the Front Range are freeze splits, and most of those trace back to a fall blowout that missed the assembly. The main irrigation lines got cleared, the sprinkler company packed up, and the PVB body kept an inch of water in the bottom of it. That water expands, the brass bonnet cracks along the casting, and nobody knows until spring when the valve is turned on and water sprays out the top. A cracked body cannot be repaired. It gets replaced.
The slower failure is wear. Hard Front Range water leaves scale on the poppet seat and the check springs, and after several seasons the seals stop sealing even though the body looks perfect from the outside. That one shows up as a failed annual test, not a leak, which is exactly why the annual test exists. Repair kits exist for most common assemblies, so rebuilding is usually the cheaper road as long as the body and shutoffs are sound. When the shutoffs are seized or the model is discontinued, replacement is the honest answer.
Related work often shows up at the same visit. Freeze damage rarely stops at the backflow device, so if the same cold snap got the outdoor line feeding it, we handle the frozen pipe repair and the hose bib on the same trip rather than sending you to a second company.
Licensed and certified
Backflow prevention installed, tested, and documented.
Wes handles the paperwork, installs the correct assembly, and provides the signed test report. One licensed plumber, installation and testing both covered.
That matters more on this job than on most. A backflow install usually touches three parties: the water authority that wants the test report on file, the building department that wants the permit closed, and you, who just wants the sprinklers to run. Wes holds a master plumber license and a general contractor license, so he pulls the permit himself, does the work himself, meets the inspector himself, and sends the signed report in himself. Nobody gets to point at somebody else.
The shop is in Littleton, and the truck goes about a hundred miles out from there. If you are not sure whether the device on the side of your house is even the right one, send a photo through the contact form and he will tell you what he is looking at.
Call (303) 883-9075.
How a call goes
Straight answer, fair price.
You call, we listen.
Tell us what is happening.
We look and diagnose.
No work quoted before the cause is confirmed.
Straight quote.
You know the cost before we start.
We do the work.
Tested before we leave.
Done right.
One master plumber and licensed GC, one point of contact.
Straight answers
Questions about backflow prevention installation.
Do I need a backflow preventer for my irrigation system?
Yes, in virtually every Front Range municipality. Once you tie a sprinkler system into the house supply you have created a cross-connection, and the water authority wants a testable assembly protecting it. Most jurisdictions also want the assembly registered and tested every year. If your system went in years ago without one, that does not grandfather you out of it, and it usually surfaces when the house sells.
What is the difference between an RPZ and a double check?
A double check valve assembly is two independent check valves in series, used on lower hazard connections where the worst case is something unpleasant rather than something harmful. A reduced pressure zone assembly adds a relief valve between the two checks that dumps to atmosphere the moment the checks are compromised. The RPZ protects against health hazards. It also discharges water when it operates, so it needs a drain under it.
What type of backflow preventer do I need?
Depends on the application and hazard level. Residential irrigation typically uses a pressure vacuum breaker mounted above the highest head. Boiler feeds and chemical connections usually take an RPZ. Fire lines and some commercial services take a double check or a detector assembly depending on what is in the system. Wes looks at the connection before he picks the device, not after.
How often does a backflow preventer need to be tested?
Most municipalities require annual testing by a certified backflow tester, and several of them want the report filed by a specific date each spring. Wes is certified and provides the signed test report. If the assembly fails the test he can rebuild or replace it on the same visit rather than scheduling you a second time, which keeps the sprinklers running.
My irrigation backflow preventer cracked over winter. What do I do?
Leave the system off and replace the assembly before running water through it. A cracked body provides no protection at all, and turning it on will spray water at the split. Take a photo of the tag so we know the make and size, and shut the isolation valve ahead of it if you can find it. Most freeze splits are one visit to swap.
Can I install a backflow preventer myself?
The device is on the potable side of your water service, so most Colorado jurisdictions require a licensed plumber for the install and a certified tester to sign it off. Beyond the licensing, height, orientation, discharge routing and freeze protection all have to be right or the assembly does not do its job. It is not a fitting swap, and a failed inspection costs more than doing it once.
Do you pull the permit and handle the paperwork?
Yes. Wes holds a master plumber license and a general contractor license, so he pulls the permit under his own number, does the work, meets the inspector, and files the test report with the water authority. You are not chasing three different offices. If the job runs into finish work like patching a wall or resetting a manifold enclosure, that stays with him too.
Why did my assembly fail the test when nothing is leaking?
Usually scale. Front Range water is hard, and mineral buildup on the poppet seat or the check springs stops the seals from closing tight even though the brass looks fine from outside. A gauge catches that long before you would ever see water. Most common assemblies have rebuild kits, so it is often a seal and spring replacement rather than a whole new device.
Need a backflow preventer installed?
Wes installs the right assembly, tests it, and files the paperwork with the water authority.