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Is Your Hose a Health Hazard? Brought to you by the City of Everett For More Information If you want to know more about back- flow prevention, please call: The City of Everett’s Cross Connection Specialist [PHONE REDACTED] Other brochures available from the City of Everett: • Is Your Water Safe? • Where Does Your Water Come From? • Concerned About Lead? • Annual Drinking Water Quality Report Please call the City of Everett Public Works Department for copies of any of these brochures at [PHONE REDACTED]. Your garden hose, kitchen sink sprayer, and sprinkler system are just a few of the ways chemicals or bacteria could get into your home’s drinking water. This brochure explains what to do to protect yourself and your family from this potential health hazard. ---PAGE BREAK--- Your Garden Hose The Potential Danger I t looks harmless enough, but your garden hose-and other hoses around your house- are potential health hazards to your family. Garden hoses, showerheads attached to hoses, and kitchen hose sprayers can be found in many homes. Left in the wrong place, they could hurt you and your family. A hazard may be created when one of these hose ends comes in contact with a potentially harmful substance such as chemicals, poisons, or bacteria. This can hap- pen when the hose end is left submerged in bath wa- ter, dish water or any other contaminated water. Using a sprayer hose attachment outside to apply weed killer could also present a hazard. A sudden drop in pres- sure inside the water line could cause these contaminants to be sucked right back into your home’s drinking water supply. Pressure may also build up inside a hose left on with a shut-off nozzle attached. Especially if left in the hot sun, high pressure may force bad tasting water inside the hose into your home’s plumbing. Backflow Prevention What You Can Do T he dangers described in this brochure can occur where unprotected cross connections exist. Inexpensive and easy-to-install backflow prevention devices for all threaded faucets around your home are available at major hardware or plumbing sup- ply stores. Buy and install hose faucet vacuum breakers. They are available for approximately $5 to $10. And always keep hose ends out of contaminated water sources. Backflow prevention assemblies for landscape irrigation systems are more expensive. These systems require a double check valve assembly at a minimum. Contact your landscape contractor, plumber, local plumbing store, or the City of Everett Public Works Department for more details. Cross Connections The Other Potential Hazards In Your Plumbing System Y our outdoor hose faucet is actually a potential cross connection. A cross connection is a point in a plumbing system where the drinking water supply is connected or can be connected to a non-drinking water source. Other examples of potential cross connections are irrigation sprinkler systems, swimming pools, boiler systems, and fire sprinkler systems. The water delivered to your home by the City’s distribution system is perfectly safe to drink. But it can become contaminated through unprotected cross connections. There are two types of backflow which may occur at cross connections. The first type, called back- siphonage, is caused by a negative or reduced pressure in the water supply line. This could be the result of accidental construction damage to a water pipeline or firefighters battling a nearby fire. Such incidents are not uncommon. Another type of backflow, called backpressure, may occur whenever the drinking water sup- ply line is connected to another system operating at a higher pressure, a booster pump, a boiler system or other pressurized systems, such as high-rise building water systems.