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Backflow Prevention

On January 10th 2022 the City of Owen Sound passed a Backflow Prevention By-law. The  by-law’s purpose is to ensure that the city continues to provide safe and high-quality drinking water to our community by decreasing the chance of backflow into our municipal drinking water system.

The City is legally responsible under the Safe Drinking Water Act, Section 19, Standard of Care to exercise due diligence in the operation of its water system. The installation of backflow preventers is a requirement for specific types of buildings under Section 7 of the Ontario Building Code.  Specifically, this bylaw applies to Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional properties in the City.

The City currently has a subsidy for building premise isolation backflow preventers on water and fire service under this program. Either the City’s Backflow Coordinator (a licensed plumber) will install the backflow preventer, or, in the case of some larger installations, a plumber retained by the building owner will install the required device. Any modification or install requires a Plumbing Permit from the City of Owen Sound at the owner's expense.

This by-law won’t impact residential property owners. In residential buildings, there are limited cross connections and lower risks.

Qualified Backflow Testers

The City of Owen Sound is using BSI to track premise backflow test results.  The tester will be required to log the results at BSI Online.

Sign Up:

    • Go to bsionline.ca and click the New to BSI link
    • Create username, password and company profile
    • Login to add testers and test kits under the "manage" tab
    • Upload or send copies of all applicable licenses and test gauge calibrations for all testers to BSI

Contact for the City of Owen Sound Backflow Prevention:

Sharah Young, Backflow Coordinator

519-376-4274 ext. 3406

syoung@owensound.ca 

Contact Us

808 2nd Avenue East,
Owen Sound, ON
N4K 2H4
Phone: 519-376-1440
Email us

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