Contaminants in our drinking water endanger people’s health and can be deadly. By minimising the risk of this occurring, backflow prevention protects and preserves the quality of our water supply, and safeguards the health and wellbeing of our community.

Generally, the property owner is responsible for all costs associated with purchasing, installing, testing and maintaining any backflow prevention device/s installed on the property.

As a property owner, you need to register with us for a backflow prevention agreement to enable us to help you meet your obligations. We will, for example, let you know when your annual test is due.

Furthermore, a failure to prevent or contain backflow within your property that results in contamination of the water supply may expose you and/or your business to:

We recommend you check the date your device was last tested, so you can arrange a test if needed and/or include this information with your registration form. If you can’t find the last test date, please email our Backflow Prevention Officer or call 1300 656 007 .

As detailed in our backflow prevention containment policy, property owners/agents must arrange for a suitably qualified person to assess potential onsite hazards, install and maintain an appropriate backflow prevention device at boundary/main water meter, and conduct ongoing annual servicing and testing of backflow prevention devices.

If you’re a licensed plumber who installs backflow prevention devices and/or an accredited backflow prevention plumber, refer to our backflow prevention containment policy for details about the operating principles and requirements pertaining to preventing and containing backflow across our region.

And neither is water quality. Pure and simple. Some claim to remove chloramines with basic, generic filters. Others state they can remove fluoride with no maintenance for years or that their one-size-fits-all product will address every water quality issue. Get the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

You will need to register with us for a backflow prevention agreement and arrange for a backflow prevention device appropriate to your risk level to be installed at the main water meter on your property. If you have more than one main meter, you will need more than one device.

Whether you’re planning to build, extend, purchase or lease, if your property connects to Barwon Water’s water supply system you need to know about backflow and your role in its prevention and containment.

Backflow occurs when water within a property is drawn back into the water mains, compromising the integrity of our reticulated water supply system and possibly contaminating our drinking water. This can happen when:

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Please use the link we email to you (or your customer) to access the form and to complete and submit the annual test report online. Device testing will remain incomplete until the correct documentation is received.

We have developed online forms for you to use for testing and reporting purposes. These are quick and easy to use on your smartphone or other digital device and provide a useful checklist for your backflow prevention jobs.

Each device must be tested annually by an accredited backflow prevention plumber to ensure it continues to work efficiently to stop backflow from entering the water supply.

Failing to install, maintain and test your device as directed by us, and to submit your test results may result in Barwon Water:

A high-hazard backflow prevention device is required at the point of installation of any bidet or sanitary spray, as per Victorian Building Authority (VBA) requirements. Barwon Water does not require this to be repeated at the meter.

If your property is assessed as medium or high risk, you will need a device. The assessment will also determine the number and type of device/s to be installed.

The forms also enable us to gather more consistent and complete information that supports better monitoring of backflow prevention across the region.

If the property is leased, it is up to the owner to negotiate with the tenant about who pays for installation and all ongoing maintenance.

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As part of connecting your property to the water supply, your plumber may advise that you need to install backflow prevention. This will then require an assessment of the property’s hazard rating by an accredited backflow prevention plumber.

Under your agreement, you will be required to arrange for your device/s to be tested once every year, again by an accredited backflow prevention plumber, with the results to be submitted to us online. We will remind you when your annual test is due.

Comparing a traditional water softener with a “salt-free water softener” is confusing. The term “salt-free water softener” is highly misleading—salt-free water softeners do not exist. Water conditioning—however—can effectively take place without the use of salt.

Under our backflow prevention containment policy, new and existing commercial, industrial and residential properties rated as medium or high risk of contaminating the water supply are required to have appropriate backflow prevention device/s installed at the main water meter.

First of all, PURE Elements’ HealthyHome is a custom filtration system. All generics are one-size-fits-all. Before we can fully customize a HealthyHome Water Filtration System for your home, we need to assess your household water quality and determine present levels of chlorine, chloramines, carcinogens, fluoride, chromium 6, arsenic, and other contaminants. From there, we review hardness levels, count all the fixtures on the property, determine the plumbing size and infrastructure, calculate flow rates, measure water pressure and check regulator settings.

A licensed plumber can install the device/s, which will then need to be tested by an accredited backflow prevention plumber and the results submitted back to us.