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Waterwise Blog: The Basics of Backflow

January 14, 2011

In the Capital Regional District (and throughout much of North America), every new irrigation system supplied by municipal water is required to include a device called a "backflow preventer."  A lot of people wonder why they need to have one, and why it has to be tested regularly to ensure it's working properly (once every 3 years for single family homes, and once every year for commercial and multi-family dwellings).  The answer is: to protect our shared water supply.

"Backflow" refers to the reversal of the normal flow of water in a system.  In nature, rivers don't get to flow back up, but in a piping system lots of things can occur that draw water back "upstream" to the source.  A couple of good examples would be a water main being accidentally damaged by a road crew, or a fire crew hooking up to a hydrant.  The immense amount of water flowing in these situations creates a draw, called "backsiphonage," which sucks water from any nearby piping back into the water main.  So any contaminants in the piping of any of the homes or buildings in the area can be drawn into the water main, to be shared with the rest of the neighbourhood once the main is repaired.  Irrigation systems present a higher hazard in this regard than household plumbing, mainly due to the assorted chemicals many people like to apply to their lawns.  These chemicals can easily enter into the sprinkler system through the sprinkler heads (which tend to draw a little water back into them every time the system shuts off).  Not to mention the stuff dogs and other animals "apply" to lawns.  None of which goes very well in your morning coffee. 

Another type of backflow is "back pressure," where the pressure on the downstream side of things becomes greater than the pressure upstream, and the water reverses flow.  This can be caused by a downstream pump, or elevation differences, but is a less common threat than backsiphonage.  To learn more about backflow in general, click here.

For most irrigation systems, the CRD requires a type of backflow preventer called a "Double Check Valve Assembly" (DCVA).  These are considered suitable for moderate hazard levels.  For any type of high hazard system where a chemical is being injected into the water, such as fertilizers at a nursery, or flame retardant in a fire sprinkler system, a Reduced Pressure Backflow Assembly (RPBA) is required.  All RPBAs are tested annually, or more frequently as needed.  Testing is done by a BCWWA-certified Cross Connection Control Tester.  A form is submitted to the CRD once the initial test is done, and then the CRD sends out new forms about a month before the next test is required.

Backflow events happen all the time, and most go unreported.  Click here for a link to a CRD page listing backflow events both local and worldwide.  To read the CRD's Bylaw on Cross Connection Control, click here.

Please contact us if you require any backflow testing services, or if you have any questions about backflow prevention in general.

Best regards,

Mike Isacson, CIC, CID, CIT, CLIA, CIS, CCCT (what do these letters mean? Click here to find out!)

Owner, Island Waterwise Irrigation

 

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Washington -- The Yankees' bullpen may have checked different on a daily basis this past time, but as Dellin Betances was able to learn at the the season, Mariano Rivera's presence and advice were still just a quick meaning away.

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Finishing third behind Bright Sox slugger Jose Abreu and Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker to the American League Jackie Robinson Newbie of the Year Award, as decided on by the hockey Writers' Association of America, Betances said that His picked up pointers that should help him build on of which impressive campaign.

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'Mariano has always been a great mentor, even to this day,In . Betances said Monday on hockey Network. 'He's always had a beneficial outlook, and for him, the crucial element was keeping things simple. No matter what happens, you ignore that day and tomorrow is usually a new day. His ended up being always great about that.'

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The 26-year-old Betances as well as Rivera bonded first as teammates and after that in the history books, because Betances shattered Rivera's franchise single-season record intended for strikeouts by a reliever, logging 135 strikeouts in 90 innings.

Rivera set the old mark in 1996, eye-catching out 130 men throughout 107 2/3 innings as an elite setup male for John Wetteland en route to your global Series championship. With Jesse Robertson's next move uncertain, Betances continues to be mentioned as a possible future nearer, and it would be no surprise in case Rivera offered more guidance with the role.

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'The success that I received this year, I remember [Rivera] giving me a call through the bullpen coach [Gary Tuck] and telling me to slow factors down and just try to continue to be consistent,' Betances said.

Betances' motorola milestone mobiel phone strikeout NYY@TB: Betances sets Yankees' K mark with regard to reliever9/17/14: Dellin Betances strikes out Kevin Kiermaier to set your Yankees' franchise mark with 131 strikeouts using a reliever in a season

A Washington City product who still treasures their ticket stub from David Wells' Before 2000 perfect game, Betances went 5-0 using one save and a 1.40 ERA in 75 appearances overall after being named to his initial Opening Day roster.

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'It's the very best feeling ever,' Betances mentioned. 'I grew up a Yankees supporter, I went to David Wells' great game. For me to have this coming year wearing the pinstripes, it's actually a dream come true.'

Once touted to be a top starting-pitching prospect, the 6-foot-8 Betances had trouble with his control in the Modest Leagues and was demoted for you to Double-A at the end of 2012, where the Washington yankees began the process of converting your pet into a reliever.

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The adjustments became predominant this spring, as Betances delivered his way onto the team and eventually moved into the build role in front of Robertson, showcasing a fastball in the high 90s together with a nasty slurve that prompted many swings and misses. Any time Betances was ahead in the rely, opponents batted just .076 against him.

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Betances led all AL prescriptions in innings pitched, holding foes to a .149 batting normal and ringing up the many strikeouts by a rookie reliever due to the fact Mark Eichhorn of the Blue Jays fanned 166 adult men in 1986.

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'I felt like my own program that I had in the actual offseason leading into Spring Coaching helped me a lot,' Betances mentioned. '[Manager] Joe [Girardi] was big in communicating with us guys inside bullpen, just making sure everything was all right and felt wonderful. If we needed a day, His was always there to give you that.'

Washington, Fla. -- The Twins changed a slow start Sunday in addition to rallied to defeat the Marlins, 4-2, within a Grapefruit League game on Hammond Stadium.

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Minnesota fell into a young 2-0 hole, but scored the actual game's final four extends -- including two in the bottom in the seventh -- to secure the victory. With runners about second and third, a couple outs and the game deadlocked at 2, Twins shortstop Eduardo Escobar roped a line drive into left field that will scored both runners on what proved to be the game's important play. Escobar was caught in the rundown and was sooner or later tagged out between third and fourth on the play, but the damage had been done by that point.

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The game started with a battle involving two starting pitchers each going through his former team, because Twins sent Ricky Nolasco to the mound and Miami turned to Kevin Slowey, though neither factored into the decision. Each pitcher tossed five innings and departed with the game tied at A couple of.

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In his five innings, Slowey limited his former club to two operates with four hits, while eye-catching out one and jogging another. Nolasco, meanwhile, allowed a couple of runs on seven hits along with struck out three as part of his first start since being referred to as Minnesota's Opening Day starter.

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'It felt good,' Slowey said. 'It ended up being good to build off of last outing and be able to throw more breaking balls and see them working in counts against large league hitters. Having the possiblity to stretch out to five innings was excellent, too. I'll just be ready for any role, whatever that might be.'

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The Marlins jumped out to an early guide when they pieced together three direct hits to start the second inning, the last of which was an RBI bunt single by simply Reed Johnson that put New mexico ahead, 1-0. Nolasco, however, then compelled designated hitter Viosergy Rosa to soil into a double play, and secondly baseman Justin Bohn grounded out a single batter later to end the threat.

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'I thought it was good over-all,' Nolasco said. 'I didn't stroll anybody and it was good to work out of the stretch. Definitely, you don't want to work that much out of your stretch, but that's where you intend to make your most important pitches, so that it was good.'

Miami added a different run one inning later when catcher Rob Brantly reached on a fielder's selection, moved to second on a crazy pitch then scored over a Jeff Baker single to center field to force the lead to two.

The Twins responded to back in the bottom of the inning, having right fielder Oswaldo Arcia leading off with some sort of towering fly ball of which carried to the warning course in left field for a triple. His scored just one batter later on a groundout simply by catcher Kurt Suzuki.

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Two innings later, Minnesota put together an additional rally to even the ranking at 2. Veteran selected hitter Jason Kubel worked the leadoff walk from Slowey and later arrived around to score on an Arcia give up fly to center field.

The play temporarily evened the report and ultimately set up Escobar's game-winning hit as the Twins improved to 7-7-3 inside Grapefruit League play, and also the Marlins fell to 11-6-2.

Up Next: Shortstop Pedro Florimon is expected to make his Grape fruit League debut Monday, in the event the Twins head to Sarasota, Fla., to take on the Orioles in an NHL.TV transmit. Florimon has been recovering from having his appendix removed on Feb. 18. Right-hander Kevin Correia will get the start for Mn, opposite Baltimore newcomer Ubaldo Jimenez. The first frequency is scheduled for Seven:05 p.m. ET within the first of two straight nights games for the Twins.