DEQ: Backflow plan insufficient

SANDPOINT — A recently-passed ordinance aimed at safeguarding the city’s water supply has been deemed insufficient by state officials and will come back before council later this month.

At its May 28 meeting, the council voted 4-1 in favor of passing a revised backflow prevention ordinance. The ordinance, which had been on the council’s agenda since January, was drafted in response to a 2008 survey conducted by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.

The survey found a number of deficiencies in Sandpoint’s water system, most notably in its lack of an adequate backflow prevention program. The new ordinance requires a portion of the city’s water users to submit to annual backflow testing by a licensed authority recognized by DEQ.

Backflow devices and assemblies work to protect water supplies from contamination or pollution by eliminating reverse flows of non-potable water from individual systems into the public water source. While most homes and businesses have some sort of backflow prevention, only a portion are testable, according to assistant city engineer Matt Mulder, who spearheaded the program.

Prior to a vote on the ordinance, Councilman John Reuter moved to strike testing requirements for single family residences, which was passed by a majority of council.

The Idaho DEQ has weighed in on the issue with a letter to city, asking the council to add single family residences back into the ordinance.

“My letter to the city was to let them know that the ordinance they passed does not comply with the Cross Connection Control Program requirements in the Idaho Rules for Public Drinking Water Systems,” Steve Tanner of Idaho DEQ said in an e-mail.

Councilwoman Helen Newton said she is satisfied with the ordinance as passed and would not support changing it.

“I think we’ve done the right thing, and hopefully DEQ will work with us on that,” she said.

The Public Works Committee voted last week to bring the ordinance back to council with a recommendation that the city comply with DEQ’s request.

Councilwoman Carrie Logan voted against excluding single family residencies from the ordinance and said complying with DEQ rules does not unduly encumber residents with testable backflow devices.

“The only thing this ordinance is doing is making sure that those testable devices are functioning, so I don’t see the huge burden,” she said.

The ordinance will return to the council’s agenda for discussion later this month.