Howe residents who have twice been reminded to get their sprinkler backflow devices tested, and have not done it, are now getting a final letter from the city with a firm deadline: three weeks from the postmark, or the water gets turned off.
The city posted a copy of the letter on its website Tuesday, along with Ordinance 860, the backflow rule the City Council adopted Oct. 20.
What the letter says
The letter tells residents the city requires a yearly backflow prevention test at every home inside the city limits, and that the city has to keep those records to stay in line with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality rules. A backflow assembly keeps water in a lawn sprinkler system from being drawn back into the public drinking water supply.
It is going to customers who already received two letters from SC Tracking, the company that tracks test results for the city, asking for a test by a set date. Residents have three weeks from the date stamped on the envelope to comply, the letter says, or the city will enforce the ordinance and shut off their water.
The city calls the notice a one-time courtesy. After this round, the letter says, a missed annual test will lead to a cutoff, and service will stay off until SC Tracking receives a passing test report and forwards it to the city.
Homeowners must hire a backflow prevention assembly tester licensed by the TCEQ. The letter lists two licensed technicians residents can call but says any licensed tester may be used. Copies of the earlier SC Tracking letters can be requested by email from the city or in person at City Hall, 116 E. Haning St.
