Backflow Testing in Morrow, GA

Morrow and CCWA's backflow program

Morrow is a small, diverse city along I-75, anchored by Southlake Mall and Clayton State University and home to the Georgia Archives. Water, sewer and stormwater come from the Clayton County Water Authority, which serves the whole county and its six cities. CCWA runs backflow differently from most of the metro. It installs devices at all customer connections, and its own state-certified backflow specialists test each one every year on a schedule tied to meter reading. They repair the devices as well. Non-residential accounts, such as the stores around Southlake Parkway, pay a monthly per-connection fee that covers testing and repairs.

For a Morrow homeowner, that means no tester to book and no report to file. CCWA's service line runs from the main to the meter, though, and the line from the meter to the house is the customer's. That's where a plumber comes in. Morrow's housing is older than much of the county, with a median build year of 1971 and more than 60% of homes built before 1980, so worn supply lines past the meter are a common problem.

What to do now

1. Figure out where the problem is. A leak at the device itself is CCWA's to repair; a leak on the pipe toward the house is yours.
2. Do a meter check. Turn off every fixture and watch the meter. Movement means water is escaping somewhere on your side.
3. Report device trouble to CCWA. The authority repairs the devices it installs.
4. Call a plumber for house-side leaks. They can locate and fix the leak on the customer-owned line.
5. Plan new work with a permit. Morrow's Planning & Economic Development Department issues plumbing permits through Community Core or paper forms at City Hall.

Symptoms and likely causes

Cost factors

• How hard the leak is to find
• Pipe material and length of the run to the house
• Pavement or landscaping over the line
• Repair of one spot versus replacing the line
• Permit and inspection steps