Thousands of residents and businesses in Durango will soon be faced with the choice of paying a roughly $150 plumber fee or having their water shut off.
Of the city’s approximately 7,648 billed service connections, 2,145 utility customers have backflow preventers – water pipe devices that ensure one-directional water flow to prevent contaminated water from flowing back into the city’s water system from backsiphonage or backpressure.
Now, some of those customers are facing pressure to prove they’ve tested their backflows under the threat of having their water service turned off after the city failed to properly record and report test data to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
According to the city, any single-family home or duplex that meets the following criteria is required to install and/or test their backflow preventer annually:
- An irrigation system, such as a sprinkler system, connected to the city water main with its own water meter.
- A fire suppression system.
- Auxiliary water sources such as wells, ponds, irrigation ditches and cisterns.
- A hot tub or swimming pool with permanent plumbing.
- A graywater system.
Other property owners who could be responsible for testing backflow preventers own buildings with water supplies connected to in-floor heating systems, hydroponic systems, medical or dental offices, photo laboratories, hide-tanning operations, and metal-plating operations, according to the city.
All multifamily residences of three or more units are also required to report tests.
CDPHE requires all backflow owners to have their backflow assemblies tested annually by certified backflow testers, as does the city of Durango, per city ordinance.
Yet, not all backflow owners are required to prove they’ve conducted tests. But they are advised to keep proof on file for three years, said Laura Rieck, Durango Public Works spokeswoman. But if a customer has an irrigation system, such as a sprinkler system, with its own tap into the city water main and its own water meter, they must prove testing annually.
Rieck said that an irrigation system with its own tap and meter is very uncommon.
Of the 2,145 backflow owners, 1,177 nonresidential owners are required to report their tests to the city. There are 884 residential units with backflow irrigation systems, but it is unclear how many of them must report their tests. (The city knows of 84 owners with backflow preventers who may be required to report their tests.)
Some customers and certified testers have already submitted proof of backflow testing in 2023. But the city failed to record it, which means they are now being asked to again provide proof of testing.
“There has been a fumble on that part – the record keeping,” Rieck said. “... Nobody that currently works here was responsible for the fact we were out of compliance.”
The city of Durango announced last month it is out of compliance with CDPHE.
Durango Public Works Director Allison Baker said last month the recording errors are administrative and do not constitute a public health or drinking water emergency. In other words, residents don’t have to boil their water.
Denise Martin with Advance Fire Systems Inc., which employs technicians licensed to test backflows for a range of business and residential clients who have fire sprinkler systems, said her office has been swamped with calls since clients began receiving letters from the city requesting proof of testing.
“We’ve been inundated with calls to get backflow certifications because people in Durango are getting letters,” she said.
The thing is, Advance Fire Systems has provided 2023 data multiple times, she said.
Martin said some of her clients were surprised by letters from the city and called her asking why the city hasn’t received proof of testing.
“I don’t know what’s happening,” she said. “... We heard that there was an issue with records back in January or February, and we took them (the city) a thumb drive with all of 2023 backflows. And they were calling our clients and saying they never received this test; the clients were calling us to say, ‘Where are these tests?’ So if they call again or ask again, I’ve just been sending them again.”
She said within the last month or so, most backflows the city has requested testing proof for were previously unknown or have been disconnected and are no longer in use.
Mayor Jessika Buell said she can’t speak to possible record-keeping or test reports not being tracked by the city without first receiving more information from city staff. But the city has no ill intentions.
“We have had turnover in our public works’ department. Is that the reason? There’s lots of what if’s I don’t have the answer to. … But I don’t think we have any intention of being unfair to the residents this applies to,” she said.
Rieck said the public health violations have prompted the city to update its backflow ordinance and improve its backflow test forms used by testers. The forms will require testers indicate whether backflows are installed on service lines for single-family homes, duplexes or multi-family residential service.
Residents will receive a notice with their Aug. 20 bills detailing the situation and who is required to have backflow testing, Rieck said. The notice will also include information on how to go about testing. A copy of the notice is also available on the city’s website.
The notice mentions that the city didn’t report the required percent of backflow tests to CDPHE last year and received two violations for the lack of reporting in 2023.
The lack of reporting was discovered by the city and reported to CDPHE in May, according to the notice.
The city is now working on contacting testers that may have records never submitted to the city or testers who previously submitted tests.
Baker said the city is also implementing a notification process to alert anybody who is required to submit an annual report and hasn’t. Those notifications will be mailed and/or emailed in 30-, 60- and 75-day intervals. If no action is taken within 75 days, utility customers will have their water shut off “until the problem is dealt with.”
It costs about $150 to have a certified technician perform a backflow preventer test, and the current law of the land in Durango is the bill is to be paid by the customer, she said.
Rieck added residential irrigation systems cost about $80 to test, with costs rising to about $200 for commercial and industrial tests.
Applicable backflow owners are required to report testing to the city within five days of having their device tested, according to the notice. They are required to email proof of testing to CCCP@durangoco.gov, the city utility division’s Cross-Connection Control Program Office.
Baker said customers who are unsure whether they meet requirements or would like more information are encouraged to call the CCCP office at 375-4801 or visit the city’s backflow prevention webpage.
cburney@durangoherald.com
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the city knows of 84 backflow preventer owners with irrigation systems who do not need to report their tests. The 84 backflow owners do not have irrigation systems and it’s unknown if they need to report. The article also confused “licensed plumbers” with “certified technicians,” the latter are qualified to perform backflow tests, and information to be updated in technicians’ reports.
