If It Ain’t Broke …
When it comes to emerging digital technologies, backflow prevention probably isn’t first to pop in your head. As plumbing professionals, we like to get things done right the first time and wait until technologies have been proven before installing them in our customers’ homes and buildings. So, we’ve taken things slower, carefully considering every step of how the industry can leverage connectivity and the Internet of Things (IoT).
In recent years, you may have noticed some advancements in plumbing technologies; boilers are more efficient, appliances have beautiful digital displays, and smart sprinkler systems can be controlled by an app on your smartphone. As trends focus on the consumer, commercial plumbing is due for a leap forward.
I’d like to talk about one device in particular. A device that is often the very first valve in a commercial plumbing system – the backflow preventer. The fundamentals of backflow devices have remained largely unchanged for decades. That’s not to say we haven’t seen backflow preventers evolve over the years—they’re shorter, lighter, more reliable, and easier to service—so what’s next?
There’s Still Room for Advancement
RPZ type backflow preventers integrate a differential pressure relief valve. This relief valve hydraulically senses the pressure differential across the first check and opens if that differential falls below where it should. This is a safety feature built into the valve to ensure that potentially contaminated water will be discharged to the drain or sump rather than be allowed to flow back into the drinking water should all the conditions line up to create a backflow event.
This relief valve also serves as a tattletale, as a fouled first check will cause the relief valve to discharge. While this provides visual indication of failure, an important feature for a safety device, these valves are often in areas where discharge will not be noticed, which may result in property damage. Also, despite relief valve discharge rates being available through the manufacturer and installation instructions clearly requiring adequate drainage, drains are often undersized or missing entirely.
All of this leads to the first major digital technology backflow preventers have brought to market – flood detection and protection devices.
These devices sense relief valve discharge and send an alert to a user or users, allowing them time to address the condition before it worsens or causes damage. Given that relief valve discharge from a 3” RPZ backflow preventer can reach up to 500 GPM, having real-time alerts is vitally important for protecting the property around the backflow. The average commercial flood claim is $75,000, but can easily reach over a million dollars, especially when the discharge occurs at night or on the weekend when it may be left unaddressed for hours or even days.
The alerts available to the customer vary by provider, but can include text, email, and a phone call. The connection is also important – commercial building operators are reluctant to allow a device not controlled by their IT department access to their WiFi networks. Consequently, even if a product requiring WiFi access is installed, it is unlikely to be connected and registered. Instead, devices that operate through a cellular connection, though they may come with a fee, are much more palatable to building owners and operators.
The form of these devices also differs between manufacturers. Some are built into the backflow preventer itself and others are built into the drain line.
These devices can communicate with an automatic shutoff valve. This is a form of an Automatic Control Valve (ACV) that uses a diaphragm and a small solenoid to shut a valve. The advantage of using such a valve, as compared to something like an actuated gate valve, is that you do not need an expensive actuator that might require a 240V power supply. By using a diaphragm, these valves only need to open a small solenoid in order to close even a very large valve.
Automatic shutoff is not appropriate for every application. For example, hotels and hospitals will typically not want their main water supply shut off automatically, even if it is to prevent a potential flood. However, other businesses or applications may greatly benefit from automatic shutoff. One example is a backflow supplying a chiller on the roof. It will likely be in a mechanical room on a high floor – the perfect scenario for a lot of water damage. However, it should not be an issue for it to be shut off for a short period of time, as long as it is not providing cooling to anything very temperature sensitive.
Flood detection and protection is the first real foray of backflow preventer manufacturers into making their valves smarter and connected to the internet, but what about the testers?
The Tester and the Purveyor
The backflow test itself has taken a long time to innovate. While the test has largely been performed the same way for decades, how readings are recorded and submitted is starting to evolve into a digitized experience.
Backflow testing used to be an arduous paperwork exercise. Testers would spend almost 20 percent of their time dealing with test reports and submittals – making sure they were filled out with all the necessary information, dealing with different test forms for each municipality, and submitting it through any combination of mail, fax, and email. These inefficiencies cost the tester time that could otherwise be used to complete more tests and drive incremental revenue.
Thankfully, products are coming to market that alleviate the tester and the purveyor from the tedium of all this paperwork.
For the tester, backflow test management software can now help automate redundant data entry such as the tester’s own name, certification number, and test kit calibration. They can even help keep track of previous tests, auto fill forms, and help the tester reach out to previous customers when they know their next backflow test must be completed. Since many testers are independent or part of a small company, this level of automation can be a large step forward in productivity. Some, depending on the purveyor, can even submit automatically; eliminating a huge amount of time wasted not testing and therefore not making money for the tester.
Test management software can also help simplify the test itself. Backflow test forms can be confusing – they squeeze all the required tests onto a single sheet. RPZ, DC, DCDA, RPDA, and PVB tests all have to compete for space along with other required information for the tester and valve, and each municipality can have a slightly different form. Test management software can eliminate all the wasted space, so all you see on your phone or tablet are the fields that need attention as you test the device.
Of course, purveyors also have requirements. They keep track of all the backflow prevention assemblies in their jurisdiction; contacting building owners when a test is due, processing incoming test reports, and are often required to store this information for years. They, too, now have software to help them manage this process. It can even help run some basic checks to help identify falsified test reports, an unfortunate reality of managing a cross-connection control program.
There are several cross-connection control management programs available; most have two ways of paying for them – either an annual fee paid by the municipality or a fee charged per-test to the tester (which will ultimately be passed on to the device owner).
Though the backflow prevention industry has been slow to adopt digital technology, products are coming to market that provide real value, and manufacturers and other companies in the space will continue to innovate to help make our water safer and cleaner. I, for one, am excited for what the future has to hold.
