City staff brief Roseville council on required residential backflow inspections and HydroCorp proposal

Robert de Bruyne, Roseville’s director of public services, briefed the City Council on Feb. 25 about a proposed residential cross-connection (backflow prevention) program and a vendor proposal from HydroCorp.

De Bruyne said the program stems from drinking-water requirements and called it “another one of those scenarios where…we have to do it, but they're not giving us any money to do it.” He described the scope as moving beyond existing commercial inspections to verify residential plumbing and fixtures that could allow water to flow back into the public system, such as threaded laundry tub faucets, sprinkler systems that require vacuum breakers, and boiler systems with backflow protections.

Why it matters: De Bruyne told the council the inspections are intended to protect drinking-water infrastructure and public health. He said the work was budgeted in the prior budget year and that the city and its consultant AEW had reviewed HydroCorp’s proposal. “What HydroCorp does is they look at our plan, they assess our plan, they do the public awareness piece, they do on-site inspections in the homes … they do compliance reporting and enforcement, and they do program management,” he said.

Details and logistics: - Vendor and scope: De Bruyne said HydroCorp was the only bidder in similar nearby procurements (Frasier, Feb. 2022; Eastpointe, Feb. 2024) and that the company’s proposal covers inspection, reporting, enforcement, public awareness, and supplying common test/installation parts where needed. - Staffing and cost: De Bruyne said the city explored doing the work in-house but found it cost-prohibitive; HydroCorp’s proposal is for a multiyear program (a five-year proposal was discussed) and the plan would phase inspections through the city (De Bruyne said “it’s gonna start with, with about 4,100 a year” as an example of the annual volume quoted in meetings with the vendor). - Resident notification and identification: De Bruyne said notifications would be mailed (water-bill inserts or separate mailers), posted on the city website and resident pages, and that contractors would wear identification and carry vehicle magnets to identify them as city contractors. - Inspection procedure: De Bruyne said in-home checks would generally be quick and would verify fixtures such as threaded faucets, irrigation backflow devices, and boiler components; in many cases the vendor would supply and install simple vacuum breakers or similar devices as part of the program.

Questions from council members included whether residents could submit photos instead of an in-person visit; De Bruyne said that would depend on the regulatory requirement and whether an inspector must be certified to verify compliance. He also said the program is a non-action briefing at this meeting; the council was informed the item would return with more details when staff recommends next steps.

Council members thanked De Bruyne for the overview. The council did not take action on the program at the Feb. 25 meeting.

Ending: De Bruyne said staff will continue planning outreach and logistics and will return with a formal recommendation; council members asked staff to keep them informed before implementation begins.