Backflow Prevention
Backflow prevention keeps contaminated water from reversing into the potable supply. Assemblies are required on many commercial and irrigation connections, and they have to be tested to stay compliant.
When to call
What usually brings people to this
Inland Empire water is hard, and hard water is the quiet reason water heaters here give out earlier than the sticker claims.
These are the symptoms that usually prompt the call. Any one of them is worth a conversation, and most of them get cheaper to deal with the earlier they are looked at.
An assembly that has never been tested
A test notice from the water purveyor
A new irrigation or fire line connection
An assembly that is leaking or will not hold
A commercial property changing use
Once water has been somewhere it should not be for a while, you are paying for drying and repair as well as plumbing.
How we work it
Testing equipment earns its keep by ruling things out, which is how you avoid paying for repairs you never needed.
Identify what is installed and what is required
Different connections call for different assembly types. What you have and what you need are not always the same.
Inspect and test
The assembly either holds or it does not, and the test shows which.
Repair or replace
Rebuild kits handle many failures. Assemblies past that need replacing.
Keep the paperwork straight
Testing is only useful if the results get where they need to go.
Worth knowingWhat backflow prevention actually involves
Quotes are free and they are specific. A number with no explanation behind it is not much use to anybody.
The requirement here comes from the water purveyor, not from us, and they do enforce it. An assembly that is required and missing, or required and untested past its deadline, can put your water service at risk. The testing itself is quick and most failures are rebuildable rather than needing a whole new assembly, so the sensible approach is to stay on top of the annual cycle rather than deal with a notice.
Having the diagnostic equipment on the truck changes the economics of a service call. We can rule things out in minutes that would otherwise be guesswork.
From the shop in Yucaipa we cover the San Bernardino valley, the Riverside side, and out into the eastern San Gabriel Valley communities. If you are outside the usual radius, call and ask. We cover more ground than most shops our size.
Testing equipment earns its keep by ruling things out, which is how you avoid paying for repairs you never needed.
Keeping it from happening again
Once water has been somewhere it should not be for a while, you are paying for drying and repair as well as plumbing.
Water heaters benefit from an annual flush in this region more than almost anywhere else, because our water leaves sediment on the bottom of the tank where the heat has to pass through it.
Wipes should not go down any drain, whether the packet says flushable or not. They do not break down, and they are behind a large share of the main line blockages we clear.
Look behind and under appliances once in a while. Washing machine hoses, dishwasher connections and ice-maker lines are common leak sources and they are all hidden from normal view.
Exercise your shutoff valves once a year. A quarter turn and back keeps them from seizing, and a main shutoff that will not turn during an emergency is a much more expensive problem than one that gets used occasionally.
Who you are calling
Nights, weekends and holidays are ordinary working hours in this trade and we staff for them.
Big Mike founded this company in 1982 and ran it the way he wanted to be treated. When he stepped down he handed it to his family, Megan Cortez, Saul Cortez and Jimilee Allen, because he trusted them to give people the same service he had. That is still who runs it and still who answers the phone.
The licensing matters most on jobs that span disciplines, like a sewer lateral replacement that is part plumbing and part excavation.
Forty-four years in the same valley means we have almost certainly fixed this exact thing for somebody down the street from you.
Big Mike's · Yucaipa, California
Questions we get about backflow prevention
If yours is not here, call and ask. We would rather talk it through than have you guess.
What is backflow?
Water reversing direction in a supply line, usually from a pressure drop, which can pull contaminated water back into the potable system.
Who needs an assembly?
Commercial properties, irrigation systems, fire lines and any connection where a cross-connection hazard exists. Your water purveyor sets the requirement.
How often does it need testing?
Most purveyors require annual testing. They will tell you, usually by notice, and the deadline is real.
What if it fails the test?
It gets repaired or replaced and retested. Many failures are rebuildable rather than needing a whole new assembly.
Do you work on commercial property as well as homes?
Yes. Residential, commercial and industrial, including offices, apartment complexes, hotels, restaurants and plant systems.
What should I do before you arrive?
Know where your main water shutoff is and whether it turns. Clear access to the work area. If you smell gas, leave the building and call from outside.
Can you handle septic as well as plumbing?
Yes, and it is a big part of what we do. We are licensed for sanitation systems, so tanks, leach lines and the plumbing that feeds them are all one contractor.
Do you pull permits?
Where the work requires them, yes. Permits and inspections are handled as part of the job rather than left to the customer.
How this fits the rest of the system
Access and scheduling drive commercial plumbing costs as much as the work does. Opening a finished ceiling in an occupied suite, coordinating notice across tenants, and working outside operating hours all add to a job that might be an hour of actual plumbing. This is precisely why accurate diagnosis in front of the repair pays for itself so quickly in commercial buildings.
Before we come out
Make sure someone who can make decisions about the work is available, so we are not waiting to get approval on what we found.
Yucaipa is where the shop is, and the work radiates out from there. Some days that means a call three miles away and some days it means the far side of Riverside County.
Related work and where we do it
Other commercial work
- Office Building Plumbing
Multi-tenant office systems.
- Backflow Installation
Installing backflow prevention assemblies.
- Commercial New Construction
Ground-up commercial plumbing.
- Commercial Water Line Repair
Failed commercial water services.
- Commercial Drain Cleaning
Keeping business drains running.
- Commercial Water Line Installation
New commercial water services.
Where we go
We run backflow prevention out of Yucaipa across Norco, Rialto, Apple Valley, Hemet, Walnut, Palm Springs and Fontana, and the rest of San Bernardino, Riverside and the eastern edge of Los Angeles County.
Call the shop. A person picks up.
Tell us what it is doing and we will tell you what it takes to fix it. Plain language, no sales pitch, and the number before we start.
Yucaipa, California · Serving San Bernardino, Riverside and eastern Los Angeles counties · Open 24 hours