Back flow preventers

The gardener has removed all the back flow preventers on the hose bibs of my house. He tells me that they restrict the flow too much. I have told him that they prevent back flow. Okay, I am going to live with back flow, however, what really bothers me is that he is attaching timers directly to the bibs. When the timers shut off (with a click), sometimes the water pipes in the house make a hammering noise. Will my pipes eventually come apart? Thanks. Anne

I would suggest you contact a professional sprinkler installation company to design a proper irrigation system. What you are using is quite primitive and without back flow protection, it is dangerous to your health. There are Federal laws regarding BF prevention, but unfortunately, some state ignore them. This endangers not only the individual household's health, but everyone using the water supply.

If have wants to run irrigation off of your household water, he will need to "add" backflow protection.

Your problem started when you hired a gardener to do plumbing work.

John

johnjh2o1 said:

Your problem started when you hired a gardener to do plumbing work.

John

Click to expand...

Amen.

But more specifically, I would point out to you that although you are now in violation of Federal law, and the chances that you are going to be cited for it are minimal, what is certainly true is that you will be the first victim of this violation.

That is, the law is designed to protect the public water system as a whole, i.e. the public at large, from ingesting pesticides, fertilizer, etc., from your garden hoses or sprinkler system.

However, when that gallon of Roundup or Atrazine or Chlorpyrifos gets sucked into your garden hose and back through your home water system towards the public water supply, what water system do you suppose it's going to end up in first? You got it, yours. Your shower, your dishwasher, your kitchen sink, your icemaker. "Mom, can I have a glass of Iced Roundup?" Yum.

So, tell the hack moron to put the backflow preventers back on, or, better yet, get a local plumber to fix it right for you.

Depending on how he removed the BFPs he may have ruined the threads on the faucets. He is apparently doing a "quick and dirty" installation using battery powered valves without built in backflow prevention.

I explained the situation to the gardener and he put all the back flow preventer back on the hose bibs. Thanks for all the help. Anne

Back flow preventers have been reinstalled. Thanks. Anne

You still have a primitive setup. A back flow should be in the main irrigation line and be certified annually by a licensed and certified inspector. Hose bib BF is a very low quality device and each one is subject to failure individually. You can not tell if the BF is working just by looking. I would again urge you to get a professionally designed watering system. If you can afford a gardener, you certainly should be able to afford to do this. OK, I've said my piece twice, and that's all folks. Free advice, take it or leave it.

Just out of curiosity...has the banging pipe noise stopped?

Texas has gotten somewhat strict about sprinkler systems, even to the point of labeling water over-spraying sidewalks a violation. Best to comply with the new rules, and let the gardener pull weeds and plant petunias, and keep his hands off the plumbing.