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Fayette County adopts new cross-connection control ordinance to strengthen backflow prevention
Summary
The Board unanimously approved Ordinance 2025-05, a comprehensive rewrite of cross-connection control rules that expands the Water System’s ability to maintain and enforce a backflow prevention program and shifts some testing and installation responsibilities away from customers.
Fayette County’s Board of Commissioners voted 4-0 on Nov. 13 to adopt Ordinance 2025-05, which revises Article IV of Chapter 28 of the Fayette County Code of Ordinances to establish updated cross-connection control provisions and a county-administered backflow prevention program.
Water System Director Vanessa Tigert told the Board the revision is a full rewrite of the ordinance last updated in 2005 and is intended to bring county practice into compliance with current state safe drinking water rules. Tigert said the ordinance changes responsibilities for "testable devices" so that customers are not responsible for installation, certified testing at installation, inspections, and annual reporting in certain cases. She said the rule will apply to all residential customers with connections of 1.5 inches or greater, to all irrigation meters regardless of size, and to approximately 7% of non-residential customers.
County Attorney Dennis A. Davenport, while speaking from his experience as a Coweta County resident, noted an annual testing cost example—"it cost me $55 annually to test"—to provide context for likely customer expenses under typical circumstances. The Board approved the ordinance unanimously. The county did not adopt an implementation schedule or detail every administrative fee at the Nov. 13 meeting; staff follow-up and implementation details were not specified in the minutes.
Ordinance 2025-05 replaces the previous cross-connection rules and authorizes the Water System to oversee testing, inspection, and enforcement consistent with state requirements.
