Olga Water Users, Incorporated-63400W

PO Box 44 Olga, WA 98279

Cross-Connection Control Policy

Finding of Fact:

Now be it resolved that the Olga Water Users Incorporated, hereinafter referred to as the Purveyor, establishes the following service policy to protect the purveyor-owned water system from the risk of contamination. For public health and safety, this policy shall apply equally to all new and existing customers.

Whereas it is the responsibility of a water purveyor to provide water to the customer at the meter that meets Washington State water quality standards;

Whereas it is the water purveyor's responsibility to prevent the contamination of the public water system from the source of supply (i.e., to the customer's connection to the service pipe or meter);

Whereas it is a requirement of the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) for the Purveyor to establish a cross connection-control program satisfactory to DOH;

Whereas cross-connections within the customer's plumbing systems pose a potential source for the contamination of the public water supply system;

Prevention of Contamination:

The Purveyor, upon an assessment of the risk of contamination posed by the customer's plumbing system and use of water, may allow:

1. A residential customer to connect directly to the water service pipe, i.e., without a purveyor-approved DCVA or RPBA, after an evaluation of the risk of hazard has determined it is safe.

2. Any customer, other than a residential customer, to connect directly to the water service pipe (i.e., without a purveyor-approved DCVA or RPBA), PROVIDED THAT the customer installs and maintains back-flow preventers ,if required, at the point of hazard, that are commensurate with the degree of hazard assessed by the Purveyor.

Water service is provided based on the following terms and limitations:

1. The customer shall take all measures necessary to prevent the contamination of the plumbing system within his/her premises and the Purveyor's distribution system that may occur from backflow through a cross connection. These measures shall include the prevention of backflow under any backpressure or backsiphonage condition, including the disruption of the water supply from the Purveyor's system that may occur during routine system maintenance or during emergency conditions, such as a water main break.

2. The customer shall install, operate, and maintain at all times his plumbing system in compliance with the current edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code having jurisdiction as it pertains to the prevention of contamination and protection from thermal expansion, due to a closed system that could occur with the present or future installation of backflow preventers on the customer's service and/or at plumbing fixtures.

3. For cross-connection control the customer shall provide for the Purveyor’s employees or agents free access to all parts of the premises during reasonable working hours of the day during emergencies.

Purveyor must attempt to contact customer prior to entering the property. Where agreement for access for the Purveyor's survey is denied, the Purveyor may supply water service provided that premises isolation is provided through a DOH- approved reduced-pressure principle backflow assembly (RPBA).

4. The customer shall install all backflow prevention assemblies requested by the Purveyor and to maintain those assemblies in good working order. The assemblies shall be of a type, size, and make approved by DOH and acceptable to the Purveyor. The assemblies shall be installed in accordance with the Purveyor’s construction standards and specifications.”

5. The customer shall:

(a) Have all assemblies (e.g., RPBAs and/or DCVAs) that the Purveyor relies upon to protect the public water distribution system tested upon installation, annually thereafter and/or more frequently if requested by the Purveyor, after repair, and after relocation;

(b) Have all testing done by a purveyor-approved and currently DOH-certified Backflow Assembly Tester (BAT);

(d) Submit to the Purveyor the results of the test(s) on Purveyor-supplied test report forms within the time period specified by the Purveyor.

6. The customer shall bear all costs for the aforementioned installation, testing, repair, maintenance and replacement of the RPBA, RPDA, DCVA or DCDA installed to protect the Purveyor's distribution system.

7. At the time of application for service, if required by the Purveyor, the customer shall submit to the Purveyor plumbing plans and/or a cross-connection control survey of the premises conducted by a purveyor-approved and DOH-certified Cross-Connection Control Specialist (CCS). The cross-connection control survey shall assess the cross-connection hazards and list the backflow preventers provided within the premises. The results of the survey shall be submitted prior to the Purveyor turning on water service to a new customer. The cost of the survey shall be borne by the customer.

8. For classes of customers other than single-family residential, when required by the Purveyor, the customer agrees to periodically submit a cross-connection control re-survey of the premises by a DOH-certified CCS acceptable to the Purveyor. The Purveyor may require the re-survey to be performed in response to changes in the customer's plumbing or water use, or performed periodically (annually or less frequently) where the Purveyor considers the customer's plumbing system to be complex or subject to frequent changes in water use. The cost of the re-survey shall be borne by the customer.

9. Within 30 days of a request by the Purveyor, a residential customer shall agree to complete and submit to the Purveyor a "Water Use Questionnaire" for the purpose of surveying the health hazard posed by the customer's plumbing system on the Purveyor's distribution system. Further, the residential customer agrees to provide within 30 days of a request by the Purveyor a cross-connection control survey of the premises by a DOH-certified CCS acceptable to the Purveyor.

10. The customer shall immediately notify the Purveyor and the local health jurisdiction of any backflow incident occurring within the customer’s premises (i.e., entry of any contaminant/pollutant into the drinking water) and shall cooperate fully with the Purveyor to determine the reason for the backflow incident.

11.The customer acknowledges the right of the Purveyor to discontinue the water supply within 72 hours of giving notice to the customer, or a lesser period of time if required to protect public health, if the customer fails to cooperate with the Purveyor in the survey of premises, in the installation, maintenance, repair, inspection, or testing of backflow prevention assemblies or air gaps required by the Purveyor, or in the Purveyor's effort to contain a contaminant or pollutant that is detected in the customer's system.

Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, in lieu of discontinuing water service, the Purveyor may install an RPBA on the service pipe to provide premises isolation, and recover all costs for the installation and subsequent maintenance and repair of the assembly, appurtenances, and enclosure from the customer as fees and charges for water. The failure of the customer to pay these fees and charges may result in termination of water service in accordance with the Purveyor's water billing policies.

12. The Purveyor will require premises isolation for a customer that is of the high-hazard type or category requiring "Mandatory Premises Isolation" established by the DOH regulations (Table 9, WAC 246-290-490).”

TABLE 9

Agricultural (farms and dairies)

Beverage bottling plants

Car washes

Chemical plants

Commercial laundries and dry cleaners

Premises where both reclaimed water and potable water are provided

Film processing facilities

Food processing plants

Hospitals, medical centers, nursing homes, veterinary, medical and dental clinics, and blood plasma centers

Premises with separate irrigation systems using the purveyor's water supply and with chemical addition+ Laboratories

Metal plating industries

Mortuaries

Petroleum processing or storage plants

Piers and docks

Radioactive material processing plants or nuclear reactors*

Survey access denied or restricted

Wastewater lift stations and pumping stations

Wastewater treatment plants*

Premises with an unapproved auxiliary water supply interconnected with the potable water supply

13. Where the Purveyor imposes mandatory premises isolation in compliance with DOH regulations, or agrees to the customer's voluntary premises isolation through the installation of a RPBA immediately downstream of the Purveyor's water meter, the customer acknowledges his obligation to comply with the other cross-connection control regulations having jurisdiction (i.e., Uniform Plumbing Code). Although the Purveyor's requirements for installation, testing, and repair of backflow assemblies may be limited to the RPBAs used for premises isolation, the customer agrees to the other terms herein as a condition of allowing a direct connection to the Purveyor's service pipe.

14. The customer shall indemnify and hold harmless the Purveyor for all contamination of the customer's plumbing system or the Purveyor's distribution system that results from an unprotected or inadequately protected cross connection within the customer’s premises. This indemnification shall pertain to all backflow conditions that may arise from the Purveyor's suspension of water supply or reduction of water pressure, recognizing that the air gap separation otherwise required would require the customer to provide adequate facilities to collect, store, and pump water for his/her premises.

15. The customer acknowledges that, in the event legal action is required and commenced between the Purveyor and the customer to enforce the terms and conditions herein, the substantially prevailing party shall be entitled to reimbursement of all incurred costs and expenses including, but not limited to, reasonable attorney's fees as determined by the Court.

16. The customer acknowledges that the Purveyor's survey of a customer's premises is for the sole purpose of establishing the Purveyor's minimum requirements for the protection of the public water supply system, commensurate with the Purveyor's assessment of the degree of hazard.

17. The customer acknowledges the right of the Purveyor, in keeping with changes to Washington State regulations, industry standards, or the Purveyor's risk management policies, to impose retroactive requirements for additional cross-connection control measures.

18. The Purveyor will record the customer's agreement to the above terms for service on an “Application for Water Service”, signed by the customer.

19. The Purveyor will engage the services of a DOH-certified CCS to develop implement and be in responsible charge of the Olga Water Users Incorporated System’s cross-connection control program.

20. The Purveyor, under the direction of the aforementioned CCS, will prepare a written cross-connection control program plan to implement the requirements of this resolution. The written program shall be consistent with this resolution and shall comply with the requirements of WAC- 246-290.

21. The Purveyor will incorporate the written program into the Small Water System Management Program and will submit the plan to DOH for approval when requested.

22. The Purveyor, in consultation with the aforementioned CCS, shall have the authority to make reasonable decisions related to cross connections in cases and situations not provided for in the resolution or written program.

Resolution Passed: April 13, 2013

Effective Date: April 13, 2013

Mark Mayer

President, Olga Water Users, Inc.