Is Your Drinking Water Protected from Contamination?

 No question about it, the primary job of Woodinville Water District is to protect the integrity of our customer’s drinking water. To insure that our customers draw a clean glass of water when opening the tap, the  district continues to emphasize the Cross-Connection Control program, working with customers to prevent contamination of any kind. Cross-connections are points in the water system where it is possible for contaminating fluids to be pulled into the water system.

Water systems depend on water pressure to keep water flowing through the pipes in the proper direction. Anything that causes a drop in water pressure can cause a reverse flow, or backflow, or even a back suction into the water pipes.

To protect your family and/or employees from a cross-connection you want to make sure you have the proper backflow protection. Inside your home or business you may have several cross-connection hazards that have the potential to contaminate yours and your neighbors drinking water. Without the proper backflow protection and testing these hazards can contaminate your drinking water. Some cross-connection hazards such as a sink, bathtub and toilets have built in air gaps for backflow protection; other hazards like a hose bib should have anti-siphon devices on them for protection. These hazards are protected by the Plumbing Code.

Here are some examples of how your drinking water is protected from backflow contamination. Without the proper backflow protection and testing, these hazards can contaminate your drinking water.

   A hose bib with built in anti-siphon               An air gap on a sink is backflow                  A hose bib without backflow
         backflow protection.                                     protection for the faucet.                         protection can be easily
                                                                                                                                         protected with an anti-
                                                                                                                                              siphon adaptor.