Quote:
Originally Posted by Windguy
Hoses are full of bacteria. If there is a water main break while your hose is running, the water in the hose will flow back into your water service and contaminate it for you and your neighbors.
You know, it’s not like there are civil servants that sit around trying to think up random rules just to annoy the citizenry. In this case, people got sick and then the agency responsible came up with a way to prevent it from happening. That idea then became code.
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Coming from WI I can tell you that these backflow preventers are indigenous to the South. Comments above are true with respect to backflow and there is reference to water main breaks which do happen and the backflow preventer does it job. However, it does not need a main break to be useful. If the hose is left connected out in the sun with the spigot nearly closed or closed, the pressure buildup in the hose will exceed the city water pressure and the hose water will backflow through the spigot. The spigot is not designed to stop water in both directions.