What a backflow preventer does
Water is meant to flow one way: from the public main into your building. If pressure drops in the main, water can be pulled backward, out of an irrigation system, a boiler, a fire sprinkler line or a piece of commercial equipment, and into the drinking water. A backflow preventer is a valve assembly that stops that. It lets water in and does not let it back out.
Who has one
- Homes with irrigation systems. Sprinkler lines sit in soil with fertilizer and lawn chemicals.
- Homes with a well, a pool fill line or a fire sprinkler system.
- Restaurants and food businesses.
- Medical and dental offices, salons and laundries.
- Apartment and commercial buildings with boilers, fire lines or irrigation.
Water suppliers decide which properties need one and what type. If yours requires it, you will have had a letter.
The yearly test
Water suppliers generally require backflow assemblies to be tested every year by a certified tester, with the results sent to the supplier. The notice comes to the property owner with a due date. If the assembly fails, it has to be repaired or replaced and tested again.
What we do
- Repair. Most failed assemblies need new internal parts: seals, springs and check valves. We rebuild them.
- Replacement. When the body is cracked, corroded or too old to get parts for, we replace the assembly.
- New installation. When the water supplier requires an assembly where there is none, we install the type they specify.
- Leaks and damage. Assemblies that drip, spray from the relief valve or have been hit or stolen.
Call us with your notice or failed test report and we will tell you what the job involves. When a permit is needed, we pull it.
Homes and businesses
We work on backflow assemblies at houses, apartment buildings and light-commercial properties. Property managers with several buildings can send us the whole list; we keep the paperwork straight for each address.
Where we work
We are based in Hayward and serve the East Bay, including San Leandro, Castro Valley, Union City, Fremont, Oakland and the Tri-Valley.
About Friendly Services
Family-owned, over 20 years in Hayward. License CSLB #1156315 (C-36 plumbing). $1M general liability cover and workers' comp. Five-year workmanship warranty on our own work. 100+ five-star reviews online.