Backflow Prevention Devices & Their Importance
Backflow prevention Devices are some of the most important home maintenance tools that a homeowner or business owner must have. Backflow prevention Devices are devices that prevent the contamination of water supplies of a home or business which is caused by backflow. Water contamination can pose very serious health hazards for homeowners or business owners. For example if a person is fixing a toilet that is known to contain large amounts of urine, a backflow can cause that urine to travel elsewhere such as the kitchen sink or shower.
In order to understand what type of backflow prevention device a person might need, that person must be able to understand the different types of backflow. The two types of backflow are known as backpressure and backsiphonage.
Backpressure is the reversal of water flow within a piping system that is caused by an increase in the water used compared to the water supplied. This problem is usually encountered by people who are in fire fighting and is not really a common problem that homeowners face.
Backsiphonage is the reversal of water flow caused by an increase in the velocity of water use. This is a typical problem encountered by households or businesses that have aged pipelines, leaked sewer connections and crossed over connections. The water flow is redirected into the other connections which causes a huge problem for homeowners because in order to fix the problem, they would have to break down the house or building and find the pipe that is causing the backflow. This is where backflow prevention devices are very important because they help prevent this problem.
There are many companies that provide people with different kinds of backflow prevention devices. Some companies provide their customers with preventors that have several valves where they can connect more pipes. Other companies manufacture preventors that are made of rubber elastomers which is a chloramines resistant material.
Having effective backflow prevention device is very important in home & business maintenance. The main cause of backflow is an aging of pipes and it is very tough to forecast when these pipes breakdown. That is why effective backflow prevention device that are made of high quality material are important. Not only will it have the ability to prevent backflow when it happens, but it also helps prevent any cross connection problems. Another important thing to take note off is the placement of the preventors. These items are effective when they are placed at specific pressure points of the pipe connections inside the house. What this means is that they should be installed at specific places where the pipes may be most vulnerable. Many municipalities and Cities require yearly inspections done by a license inspector. We are a NY State licensed inspector.