As with so many questions we ask in the cross-connection industry, there are both simple and complicated answers to this question. The best answer to the question is that it depends. In a recent class, as we spoke about updates in products and regulations, one of the students questioned why change was needed or necessary if our products or procedures were working. That is a valid question. Sometimes changes are improvements to our systems and procedures, sometimes they are not. I can say as I enter my 46th year working in this industry I have grown to love, that change is inevitable. The only constant in the cross-connection industry is change. Inevitable change is also why our training can never stop, why recertification classes and continuing education will and should always be required. It is something everyone working in our industry must embrace and support. There are still a number of jurisdictions in the United States that do not require any type of training or testing for individuals to maintain their cross-connection certifications. That is a mistake.
We know that model plumbing codes update on a three-year cycle. Isolation protection in most areas is governed by the adopted plumbing code, so it is important that cross-connection technicians make themselves aware of any updates or changes. The Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC®), for example, made significant changes to its Chapter 6 in the 2021 cycle. The UPC added ASSE 1024, Performance Requirements for Dual Check Backflow Preventers, to both Table 603.2 and to the body of the code. It also added ASSE 1012, Performance Requirements for Backflow Preventers with an Intermediate Atmospheric Vent, and ASSE 1081, Performance Requirements for Backflow Preventers with Integral Pressure Reducing Boiler Feed Valve and Intermediate Atmospheric Vent Style for Domestic and Light Commercial Water Distribution Systems, in both places. It is important that those of us in the industry understand all of the options we have in protecting potable water systems.
Product standards also change on a regular schedule, as do the products themselves. I still receive calls on occasion from backflow testers who encounter type two reduced pressure or double check detector assemblies, are unfamiliar with them, unsure if they are approved assemblies, and if so what is the correct test procedure for these assemblies? ASSE 1001, Performance Requirements for Atmospheric Type Vacuum Breakers, was updated and changed in 2017 and has since been updated to the ASSE 1001 2021 version. In 2017, a small change was made to the application section of the standard. Before the 2017 version was approved, the standard clearly stated, “The device shall be installed downstream of the last control valve.” In the 2017 and 2021 versions of the standard, that has been changed to read, “The device shall have its outlet open to atmosphere.” The 2024 version of the UPC reflects this change, which allows for, as an example, an ASSE 1055 chemical dispenser to be supplied from a service sink faucet that contains an AVB as long as an opening to atmosphere is provided downstream by the installation of an IAPMO PS-104 bleed device.
Even the way we field test backflow prevention assemblies changes over time. The USC 8th Edition Manual of Cross Connection Control contained different field test procedures than we see in the USC 10th Edition Manual of Cross Connection Control. I am sure when the USC 11th Edition is produced, we will see additional changes to the field test procedures. The ASSE Series 5000, Cross-Connection Control Professional Qualifications Standard, was first produced in 1991. The current Series 5000, last revised in 2022, is a very different standard. The AWWA M-14 has just been updated to its fifth edition and is new and improved. What I consider to be the best cross-connection training manual, The IAPMO Backflow Reference Manual, was updated and released as a fourth addition last year. Change is a constant in our world and in our industry.
From sight tubes and duplex test kits to electronic test kits using blue tooth technology and geo location data, we need to keep moving forward. When I first became a tester, we only tested reduced pressure principle assemblies and double check assemblies. We then added pressure vacuum breaker assemblies and years later spill resistant vacuum breaker assemblies. Back in the early 1990s, when I started as a tester, we had to write and mail a letter to the valve manufacturer to get a repair and maintenance manual for an assembly. Now you can watch a video on your smartphone of the procedure as you repair the assembly. Times have changed and it is up to us to pass on the knowledge and tools available to others in the industry. Recertification and updated training are vital to protecting our water systems.
It is also true that some things do not change. The laws of physics are an example of things that stay the same. Or what backflow is and how it occurs. Or the fact that it is a never-ending issue and both public and industry education are vital to ensure systems operate safely. With that said, change is how we improve the industry. It is how we make a difference in this world. John F Kennedy once said, “Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past and present are certain to miss the future.” Please join me in embracing the future and making the industry better. Open your minds to change. If you are reading this column, you are already involved in our industry. There is more work to be done — let’s move forward this year and be more active on the local, national, and possibly on the international level. Let’s all do what we can to protect the health of this world.
