Backflow Testing in Decatur, GA

Which Decatur properties need a backflow assembly?

The City of Decatur's water link points to DeKalb County Watershed Management, and both the city and unincorporated Decatur-mailing areas are DeKalb water customers. DeKalb's backflow brochure lays out the commercial and multi-family rule: those customers must install assemblies on the customer side of the meter, using a reduced pressure (RPP) assembly for high hazards and a double check for low hazards. DeKalb's program also requires an assembly on single-family irrigation systems. That covers the shops and restaurants around Decatur Square, apartment buildings near the MARTA stations, and houses with sprinklers.

How often and by whom?

Every year. DeKalb requires annual tests by a tester certified by GAWP's GBPAT program, ASSE, ABPA or UF TREEO. The Backflow Prevention Section is at (404) 687-4075. DeKalb owns the service line from the main to the meter, including the meter; from there to the home's plumbing, the owner is responsible, and that's where the assembly sits.

What's different about older Decatur homes?

Decatur is one of the older cities in the metro: the median home dates to 1975 and over half were built before 1980. In close-in neighborhoods like Oakhurst, irrigation and outdoor kitchens are usually later additions, and a device may have been squeezed in wherever it fit. If the assembly is buried, undersized or past the point where parts exist, replacement may be simpler than a rebuild. Any new or relocated device is plumbing work, and the City of Decatur requires a separate trade permit for plumbing regardless of the job's value, filed through its Community Core portal. Addresses outside city limits with a Decatur mailing address are permitted by DeKalb County instead.

A Decatur note

Businesses on and around the square often change hands or menus. If a space is being converted to food service, ask early whether the existing assembly matches the new hazard level, because DeKalb sets the device type by hazard, and a double check that suited a retail shop may not be enough for a kitchen. Homeowners should drain and insulate an outdoor assembly before a hard freeze, since a split body means replacing it before the next annual test.