Backflow Testing in Buckeye, AZ

Reasons people book a backflow appointment

• The city's annual test-due notice landed in the mailbox
• A reduced pressure assembly is discharging from its relief port
• A new dedicated landscape irrigation system is going in
• A multi-family building, shop or office has assemblies with no recent test on file
• Last year's test failed and the fix is still pending
• A device was damaged by a mower, a vehicle or a hard freeze

How Buckeye handles backflow

The City of Buckeye supplies water and sewer, and its Environmental Compliance division in Water Resources administers the Backflow Prevention Ordinance. The ordinance names who needs what: a reduced pressure principle assembly on all multi-family, commercial and industrial facilities and on any facility with a dedicated landscape irrigation system, with a double check assembly allowed on an engineered fire line. Owners pay for annual testing and inspection of every assembly, the city mails a notice when the test comes due, and only state-certified testers may do the work. Results are entered through the NJB Soft testing portal.

If you are not sure whether your lot or HOA landscape falls under the ordinance, the Environmental Compliance division can tell you before you schedule anything.

The city delivers water through ten separate service areas, among them Festival, Sundance and Sunora, Tartesso, Sun Valley and Valencia, and it relies almost entirely on groundwater. Housing is young, with a median year built around 2010, so many assemblies are on their first or second set of seals, but newer does not mean maintenance-free in desert heat.

What affects the bill

• Pass or fail: a clean test is quick, while a failed relief valve or check means a rebuild kit and a retest
• Assembly type and pipe size, since reduced pressure units have the most internal parts
• The number of assemblies on a commercial or multi-family site
• Full replacement when a body is cracked or parts are no longer sold
• Whether the device sits in an open spot or a cramped enclosure

When you call

You'll reach an independent plumber who serves Buckeye. Tell them what the assembly protects, how many there are and the date on the city notice, and ask that the result be entered through the city portal. If a relief port is gushing, close the irrigation or building shutoff and wait for the plumber rather than capping the port.