GUC’s semi-annual Backflow Prevention Tester Certification Courses for 2023 kicked off in March. This training allows local plumbers and technicians to better service the needs of our customers by learning how to install, test, and repair backflow prevention assemblies that help protect our drinking water system from harmful cross connections.    

Backflow occurs when water flows in the opposite direction from its normal flow due to changes in water pressure. With the direction of flow reversed, backflow can allow contaminants to enter the drinking water system through cross connections. This can occur with something as simple as a garden hose. For example, if a hose is left submerged while turned on in a swimming pool, and a water main down the street breaks, the water pressure significantly and quickly drops, creating a vacuum. The unwanted pool water has now contaminated the homeowner’s water system.  

Cross-connections can be found at all business and facilities where water is used. To prevent contamination from backflow, our customers with potential hazards are responsible for installing and testing backflow prevention assemblies on their water service connections. We currently have 5,400 active backflow assemblies on our water system.   

The assemblies must be tested upon initial setup - and then annually - by a Greenville Utilities certified tester. The tester’s certification courses are part of our comprehensive Cross Connection Control Program. Once the testers finish the classroom portion, they then must complete a written and practical exam to be certified as a Backflow Prevention Assembly Tester. All new backflow testers must complete a re-certification course every two years. Testers in good standing for five years get re-certified every three years.  

GUC’s Backflow Assembly Tester Course is administered by Deanna Castellow, our Environmental Control Officer. “Backflow prevention is essential because it allows our customers to have confidence in our water supply,” she said. “It ensures that we are doing everything we possibly can to make sure the water within the distribution system is of the highest quality.” 

For more information about our Cross Connection Control Program, contact Deanna at 551-3399.