Quote:
Originally Posted by cherylncliff
They are mandatory to prevent water from hose backing up into house water. If you plan on selling the house at any point, you will need to replace them if you have removed them.
"Back Flow preventers are devices that are often times added on to the end of a hose spigot. The purpose of a backflow preventer on a garden hose spigot is to prevent tainted water from entering the drinking water system. Let me explain it like this: If your neighbors house is on fire and there are firemen using fire hoses to put it out, the amount back pressure needed could actually suck the dirty water out of the bucket your using to wash your car. If there was no back flow preventor on the line our clean drinking water could be compromised. That is why they have made it code to have a back flow preventor on your hose spigot."
I have had them on our house for over 10 years and never had a problem shutting off the water.
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The same principle applies to all faucets in your house. That is why the faucet outlet is located above the overflow level of the sink. But, if you connect a hose to a faucet, like the laundry tub, you can contaminate the water if it backs up into your house.