Avoiding Cross Connections

Providing safe drinking water to our Lake County customers is our highest priority. Regulated by the California Department of Public Health and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, we follow strict standards to ensure that the public drinking water supply remains safe.

Besides conserving water, our customers also have a responsibility to help keep the public water supply safe. Here’s how - whenever another source of water exists on your property, like a well, storage tank, pond, or Lake, this is considered an alternative water source, and the possibility of contamination to backflow could occur. To avoid contamination, backflow preventers are required whenever there is an actual or potential hazard for cross-connection.

Backflow happens when back-siphonage creates a vacuum as water drains toward the community water system. Water or fluid can be siphoned or pulled into the utility main water line.

Example: a garden hose with one end immersed in a pail of soapy water or a hose immersed in a swimming pool.

Back pressure can develop when irrigation well pumps are connected to drinking water for pump priming or blending drinking water with well water to reduce a “rotten egg” odor or driveway staining.

For More Information

If you have questions about backflow preventers or cross-connection control, contact the Lake County Special Districts Administration at 707-263-0119, and ask for a backflow prevention specialist.