Inside the city, Marietta Water runs its own cross-connection control program: it rates each service as high, medium or low hazard, specifies the device, and requires testable devices to be tested every year by a certified tester who reports to the utility. Some Marietta addresses outside city limits are on Cobb County water instead. Call the number on this page to be connected with a local plumber in Marietta.
How Marietta handles backflow
Marietta Power & Water distributes water across the city, buying treated supply from the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority. Its cross-connection control program classifies every service by hazard level and names the device the property needs. That device goes in as close as practical after the meter. Testable devices have to be tested annually by a certified tester, repaired if they fail, and the results sent to Marietta Water. The utility's Environmental Compliance staff answer questions at 770-794-5229 or 770-794-5728.
Not every Marietta mailing address is a Marietta Water account. Homes outside city limits may be on the Cobb County Water System, which runs its own backflow program. Check the utility named on your bill before you book a test, because the reporting goes to whoever supplies your water.
Marietta's housing is older than much of Cobb, with a median build year of 1987 and about a third of homes built before 1980. Older houses near Marietta Square often had irrigation added years later, so an assembly may have been installed long after the original plumbing.
Repair or replace?
| Situation | Usual fix | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Failed test, body intact | Rebuild checks, springs and seals, then retest | Most common outcome on a device a few years old |
| Cracked body or bonnet after a freeze | Replace the assembly | Brass rarely repairs well once split |
| Parts no longer made | Replace with a current model | Marietta Water still decides the device type |
| Wrong device for the hazard | Upgrade, often to a reduced pressure assembly | Follow the utility's hazard rating |
Signs it's time
- A test notice from Marietta Water
- Water running from the relief port when the system is idle
- A leak at the test cocks or unions
- Irrigation added or expanded on a home that never had a device
- No test record from the previous owner
- A restaurant, shop or office on a city service, which usually rates as a higher hazard
Timing it
Book the test before the summer watering peak so a failed device can be rebuilt while you still have time, and wrap any above-ground assembly before the first hard freeze, since a split body turns a quick rebuild into a replacement. For changes to plumbing on an existing building, the City of Marietta's Building Inspections issues plumbing permits.
Backflow Testing questions in Marietta
How often does a backflow assembly need testing here?
How do test results get to the water utility?
How do I find out which utility serves my address?
What's the difference between a double check valve and a reduced pressure assembly?
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