What Does a Backflow Preventer Do?

When water flows into your home through the main plumbing line, it usually
flow backwards and lead to all sorts of damage to your home and can also
cause health issues.
Backflow can happen in your water system when there is back pressure or
possibly back-siphoning in your plumbing system. It can also be caused
when your town or city’s water supply experiences dropping water pressure.
If you find you have a problem with your backflow preventer, you will want
to contact a 24 hour emergency plumber in Virginia Beach as soon as possible.
Backflow can lead to contamination of your water supply. Installing and
maintaining a backflow preventer is imperative to keeping your water supply
clean and free of contaminants.
What Is a Backflow Preventer?
A
backflow preventer is a device that is installed where the main water supply enters your
home. It helps prevent the water entering your home from becoming contaminated
from any water that may start flowing backwards. Most devices use a ball
that is a little bigger than the supply line. The water pressure forces
to ball to open and let water through and is connected to a spring that
helps keep the ball in the shut position when no water is flowing.
This closed position prevents any water from backflowing, stopping things
such as chemicals or fecal matter from flowing into the water supply.
Backflow Preventer Testing
It is important to have your backflow preventer tested every year. You
may even receive a letter from your local council requiring you to submit
a testing report. This will ensure that your backflow preventer is functioning
correctly and has not failed. Virginia requires that this testing be completed
by a certified professional. Our 24 hour emergency plumbers in Virginia
Beach hold these certifications and can ensure that you have no backflow
entering your home.
If you feel you are having problems with your backflow preventer or you
are due for an annual maintenance checkup,
contact us today. Our team is
certified and will check over your system and prepare the required reports. We will
then submit this report to the Department of Public Utilities. We will
take care of any parts that are not working properly and retest your system.
This will ensure that any requirement from the Department of Public Utilities are met.