WSSC Backflow Prevention in Maryland
In Maryland, the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) is the water and wastewater utility for nearly all citizens who live in Montgomery County and Prince George’s County. The WSSC’s service area spans nearly 1,000 miles over the two counties, serving 1.8 million residents.
The WSSC is currently among the largest water and wastewater utilities in the nation, with a network of nearly 5,768 miles of fresh water pipeline and over 5,578 miles of sewer pipeline.
The WSSC is the authority mandated to protect the drinking water from contamination due to backflow from unprotected cross-connections of backflow assemblies. The WSSC requires these inspections to be performed annually and mails out backflow test notices to all residential and commercial properties that have registered backflow prevention devices in use.
Vito Services is a WSSC-Approved Contractor
The WSSC’s annual compliance testing enforces and promotes backflow prevention to reduce health risks posed by cross-connections. The program highlights the importance of maintaining backflow preventers, eliminating unnecessary cross-connections, and preventing backflow incidents through inspection and regulation.
A cross-connection is a point in the drinking water system where a contaminant or non-potable water can potentially enter the drinking water supply. Examples of cross-connections include connections to lawn irrigation (both residential and commercial), fire sprinklers, swimming pools, boilers, cooling towers, chillers and/or industrial systems that require water. Backflow preventers and/or air gaps must be used on cross-connections to prevent the undesired flow of contaminants into the water supply.
The WSSC maintains a database of annually tested backflow preventers, and all backflow test reports must be electronically submitted and directly uploaded to this database. From these notices, the WSSC can determine when backflow assemblies are out-of-date for testing and generate reminder notices.
To schedule your Backflow Prevention test with a WSSC-approved contractor, contact Vito Services today!