Commercial Plumbing: What To Expect in a Backflow Preventer Inspection

Commercial Plumbing: What To Expect in a Backflow Preventer Inspection

February 19, 2024 by Timberline

If you own a commercial building or manage a commercial property, one of your top priorities must be ensuring critical systems like plumbing and electrical function as designed. That includes providing tenants access to potable water and ensuring that drinking water flows into your building but never back into the municipal water supply. That one-way flow is required under government regulations and is strictly enforced.

A key component in meeting clean water standards is a device called a backflow preventer. What is a backflow preventer, and why is it so important? This article answers those questions and explains why regular inspections by a skilled plumber are essential. It also describes what to expect in a backflow preventer inspection.

What Is a Plumbing Backflow Preventer?

In plumbing, “backflow” is a very undesirable condition. The term is used to describe a situation where water that should be moving in a particular direction moves in the opposite direction. Allowing backflow can create a public health crisis, as it potentially lets chemicals, waste and other dangerous substances make their way into a community’s potable water supply.

A backflow preventer does precisely what its name suggests: It keeps water that has entered a commercial building (or any building) from flowing back out of it through the same pipe. Essentially, it is a one-way gate that lets inbound water enter a building but immediately stops it if it detects a change in flow direction.

Backflow preventers are typically placed at every cross-connection point in plumbing systems. The device used varies depending on the types of hazards present in the building. Types of backflow preventers include:

• Air gap preventers
• Pressure vacuum breakers
• Reduced pressure principle systems
• Atmospheric vacuum breakers
• Double-check valves

Generally speaking, the potable water flowing to your commercial…