McKinney's public works staff wants a stronger local rulebook for the devices that keep dirty water from flowing backward into the city's drinking water lines, and the City Council gets its first look Tuesday, Oct. 20.
The proposed ordinance would add a new article on cross-connection control and backflow prevention to Chapter 110 of the city code. It is listed as a discussion item at the council's 3 p.m. work session, and staff recommends that it eventually be adopted.
What the city has now
McKinney already enforces the minimum backflow rules set by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, according to the staff summary. A presentation in the agenda packet says the city has 100,223 water connections and about 33,000 backflow assemblies, about 4,000 of them on connections rated as health hazards.
Four staff members handle the program. Certified testers turn in paper reports to a mailbox at Public Works, where they are processed by hand and tracked in a spreadsheet. The presentation says growth has outpaced that process and that the requirements are spread across the utility, plumbing, fire and engineering codes.
What would change
Under the draft, the type of backflow assembly required would match the level of contamination risk. Every new commercial and industrial site would need an approved assembly where it connects to the city system, and some existing high-hazard connections could be required to add protection.
Health-hazard, commercial, industrial and fire-line assemblies would be tested every year. Testers would need to be licensed and register with the city annually, and they would have 10 days to file results. The rules also cover fire sprinkler systems, fire hydrants, lawn irrigation systems and mobile units, and would apply to city water customers outside the city limits.
Staff wants to move reporting online through a third-party tracking system. The presentation notes that electronic filing needs TCEQ approval or an approved tracking platform.
