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Committee advances health‑code update to strengthen cross‑connection and backflow protections
Summary
SFPUC and public‑health staff told Supervisors the ordinance updates Article 12A to place cross‑connection control with SFPUC, add enforcement tools (fines and liens), remove an outdated $100,000 insurance cap for testers, and set stricter siting/testing rules to reduce contamination risks from backflow.
Kenneth Payne, chief water quality inspector for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, told the committee that the 1984 Article 12A health code is outdated and should be modernized so the SFPUC, as the state‑identified lead agency, has clear authority to run an updated cross‑connection control program.
Payne said new rules would address changed plumbing and development patterns — including dual‑plumbed buildings using nonpotable supplies — and give the SFPUC enforcement tools such as fines and liens (up to $1,000 per violation per day) and a right of entry to correct severe deficiencies. He said the number of backflow prevention assemblies has grown by roughly 55% to over 25,000 and that compliance dipped to about 92% as of February, leaving roughly 2,000 untested assemblies that present risk to the distribution system.
Payne noted the existing code capped liability insurance carried by testers at $100,000; the proposed approach would remove that fixed cap from the ordinance and instead allow the SFPUC to set updated requirements in its rules and the cross‑connection control manual (Payne said the department is pushing for a million‑dollar requirement in the rules). The proposed ordinance also clarifies siting limits for assemblies, adds requirements for fire‑hydrant protection and tester qualifications, and eliminates an out‑of‑date assignment of ultimate responsibility from SFPUC to the Department of Public Health.
During committee questioning, members sought clarity on the insurance cap, enforcement thresholds, and how rare cases (such as a landlord refusing to test critical assemblies) would be handled. Payne said unpaid fines could become liens on property and, in rare cases where owners do not act, the SFPUC could correct deficiencies to protect public water. The committee voted to move the ordinance forward with recommendation and requested that the revision team’s implementation plan be posted in the SFPUC cross‑connection control manual.
