Backflow preventions devices can be installed on your home water pipes and work to stop water from flowing back into your home & contaminating your water. We install and repair backflow prevention devices both large and small, residential and commercial.
Van Franey Plumbing can have your existing backflow prevention device tested and certified per local laws if necessary.
What a backflow preventer does
Water is supposed to move one way: from the utility main, through the meter, into your pipes. Backflow is water moving the other way. It happens when pressure in the main drops, for instance when a hydrant is opened or a line breaks nearby, and water from your property gets pulled back toward the public supply. If that water has been sitting in an irrigation line with fertilizer in the soil, in a boiler, in a pool fill line, or in a commercial process, it carries whatever it touched. A backflow prevention device is a set of check valves, and on the higher grade assemblies a relief valve, that closes when flow reverses so nothing from your side reaches the public side.
The common types you will see in Southwest Florida are the double check valve assembly, used on most residential and light commercial services, the reduced pressure zone assembly, or RPZ, used where the hazard is higher and where the utility requires it, and the pressure vacuum breaker, common on irrigation systems.
Who needs a backflow prevention device
Most commercial properties, every property with a fire sprinkler service, and most homes with an in-ground irrigation system connected to the utility supply are required to have one. Condominium and homeowner associations usually have several: one on the domestic service to each building or the community, one on the fire line, and one on the irrigation. Many newer single-family homes in Lee and Collier County were built with a device on the main service as a matter of course, which is why so many houses here have an expansion tank on the water heater.
Whether your specific property needs one, and what grade, is decided by the water utility that serves it. Lee County Utilities, the City of Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Bonita Springs Utilities, Collier County, and the City of Naples each run their own cross-connection control program, and the rules differ in detail between them.
Annual testing and the letter from the utility
Backflow assemblies are mechanical, and the springs and rubber seats inside them wear. For that reason the local utilities require the devices they track to be tested on a schedule, typically once a year, by a tester who holds a current backflow certification. The utility sends a letter or notice when a test is due, usually with a deadline and a list of approved testers. If the test is not filed by the deadline, the utility can follow up with fines or, in the end, interrupt service, so the letter is worth acting on when it arrives.
Van Franey Plumbing tests backflow prevention devices with calibrated gauges and files the results with your utility. The test takes a short while per device and requires the water to be off briefly, which we schedule with you, or with the association or property manager on a multi-device site. If a device passes, you get a copy of the report and the utility gets its filing. If it fails, we tell you what failed and what fixing it involves before doing anything else.
Repairs and replacement
A failed test usually points to one part: a check valve that will not hold because of a worn seat or debris on it, a relief valve on an RPZ that dumps water, or a shutoff valve on the assembly that will not close tightly enough to run the test. Most of those are repaired in place with a manufacturer rebuild kit, and the device is retested and filed the same visit. Replacement is the answer when the body is cracked, when the model is old enough that parts are no longer made, or when the utility has changed the grade of protection required at that address.
Irrigation devices take the most abuse. They sit in the sun, get hit by mowers and trucks, and in the rare cold snap the water trapped inside a pressure vacuum breaker can crack the bonnet. We repair or replace it.
- Certified annual testing, with the report filed to the utility.
- Rebuild of check valves, relief valves, and shutoffs in place.
- Replacement of cracked, obsolete, or undersized assemblies.
- New installations on irrigation, domestic, and fire services where the utility requires them.
Condos, HOAs, and property managers
A community with a dozen devices does not want a dozen separate letters and deadlines. We keep a schedule for association and commercial accounts so every device on the property is tested in one round, the filings go in together, and the manager gets one report to keep for the board.
Call Van Franey Plumbing at (239) 851-0207 to schedule a backflow test, repair, or installation, or use the request form on this page. A plumber answers 24/7.
Call Van Franey Plumbing at (239) 851-0207 to install, repair or service your backflow prevention device
Learn more before you call
- Backflow testing: why the utility sent me a letter and what happens next
- Backflow test failed: what the repair usually involves
- Irrigation backflow devices: why they crack and how to protect them
- Backflow testing schedules for condos and HOAs
Common questions about backflow devices
I got a letter from the utility about backflow testing. What do I do?
The letter means a device at your address is on the utility's list and its test is due. Call a certified tester before the deadline on the letter. We test the device, file the result with the utility, and give you a copy for your records.
How often does a backflow preventer have to be tested?
The local utilities generally require an annual test on the devices they track, and always after a repair or a new installation. Your utility's notice states the schedule that applies to your address.
What happens if my device fails the test?
We tell you which part failed. Most failures are repaired in place with a rebuild kit and retested on the same visit. A cracked body or an obsolete model is replaced.
Does a backflow preventer affect my water heater?
It can. A device on the main service makes the house a closed system, so water expanding as it heats has nowhere to go. Code calls for an expansion tank at the water heater in that case, and a dripping relief valve is the usual sign one is missing.