Backflow prevention
BACKFLOW TESTING is painted on the van because it is real work.
We install, test and repair backflow prevention devices, so used water, gases and industrial fluids never make it back into the drinking supply. Central Texas freezes are the thing that actually breaks them.
What a backflow preventer is actually stopping
Back-siphonage is what happens when pressure in the supply line drops and drops hard, and whatever is sitting on the customer side of the meter, an irrigation line, a hose left in a bucket, a commercial process line, gets pulled backward instead of pushed forward. A backflow prevention assembly exists to make that physically impossible. Most water supply corporations in this area require an annual test on top of the install, and we do both.
What the test itself involves
We check that the assembly holds the pressure differential it is supposed to hold, confirm both check valves and the relief port are doing their job, and file the paperwork the water supply corporation asks for. Straightforward, if the enclosure kept the device in the condition it left our truck in.
"BACKFLOW TESTING" is painted on the van for a reason. Call (254) 275-4275.
How the assembly actually works
Two check valves, a relief port, and a promise that water only moves one way.
Open one up, the way we do for a test or a repair, and it is mostly O-rings, a poppet and a screen, nothing exotic. What matters is that the two check valves close the instant pressure tries to reverse, and the relief port between them dumps to atmosphere rather than letting anything creep backward toward the meter. That is the whole job description: keep used water, gases, and anything from an industrial line on the far side of the meter, permanently.
Why they fail
It is not age. It is one hard freeze.
Most of these assemblies sit above ground, which is exactly where a Central Texas freeze does the most damage. Our winters do not stay cold long, but they arrive fast and hard, and a device with no insulation or a cracked enclosure is the one that splits. An insulated jacket or a proper enclosure box is the cheap half of the fix. Testing it again once the weather turns is the other half, and it is the step most people skip because the assembly still looks fine from the outside.
We would rather look at yours before the next cold snap than write up the damage after it.
In their words
"Excellent service. Arrived on time for our requested appointment time. Very processional. Told us we didn't need a repair and showed us how to turn on/off the faucets to the washing machine. If we should require plumbing service in the future we will definitely call Cove Plumbing."
Marianne Falcon, Google review
While you are here
One truck, three checks, the same visit.
A backflow test is a good moment to have the rest of the system looked at too. See the warning signs on our maintenance and repair page, or the full services list.