Backflow Enclosures 101:  Must Know Facts About Backflow Enclosures

Before getting into backflow enclosures lets first touch quickly on backflow in general. For those who don't know, backflow refers to water flowing or being sucked backwards in the opposite direction of where it is intended to flow. In a nutshell, the cause of this reversal in direction of flow is pressure, or lack thereof. Lots of folks with wells have a large water pressure tank in their basements. The air in these tanks keeps the water in the pipes under constant pressure so it will flow when a faucet is turned on or a toilet is flushed. A backflow device whether it's in an enclosure or not, is designed to stop water from flowing backwards when the pressure gets too low.

While backflow enclosures provide protection for the actual backflow device, it's the backflow preventer that protects the water. Drinking water is kept safe and clean by backflow protection devices. When water pressure gets too low, the backflow device stops the water from flowing back to the source. In many cases the source is a person's water well where drinking water comes from. Backflow devices prevent sewage, and chemicals from hose attachment sprayers etc from contaminating the drinking water. So that's
how backflow devices keep our water safe, so what about backflow enclosures?

What Do Backflow Enclosures Protect?

Backflow enclosures are designed to protect the preventer devices in a couple different ways. One is protection from vandals and thieves. Most backflow prevention devices are made with copper and other precious metals. Thieves will hack saw the copper pipes off at grade and run off with the whole unit. They then turn it in to salvage yards as scrap metal. It's cold, hard cash. Crooks are even breaking into foreclosed homes and cutting out all the copper water piping. Sad but true. In this crapola economy though, this is really becoming a problem. It's increasingly necessary to use backflow enclosures as a deterrent against thieves and vandals.

Backflow enclosures also protect against Mother Nature. In cold climates a backflow device can freeze, sometimes causing the pipes to burst and rendering the unit useless. Depending on the climate of your location, it's important to choose a model that is either insulated and or heated to protect from frost and pipe freeze. It's wise to make sure any insulated or heated version is ASSE certified (American Society Of Safety Engineers) to insure the backflow enclosures are indeed manufactured to the advertised specifications.

Believe it or not, backflow enclosures can also help protect your eyes and ears: 1) You won't have to look at the ugly pipes sticking out of the ground and 2) You won't have to listen to your wife nag about the ugly pipes sticking out of the ground! Of course this all depends on the type of enclosure you buy. Unfortunately many types are not designed with curb appeal in mind, but with a little bit of poking around online you should be able to find some backflow enclosures that provide protection and look good doing it.

Lastly, backflow enclosures also help to protect from injury. By design a backflow preventer device is awkwardly shaped with sharp metal corners especially around the valve areas. Kids can be mezmorized by this funky looking metal beast. It's an alien spaceship! A horsey to ride on! You get the picture. Kids playing around an exposed unit is a recipe for both a chipped tooth and a broken backflow. Just be sure you choose an enclosure that doesn't have any sharp corners that can be more dangerous than the device itself. Backflow enclosures are crucial for residential areas with kids on the prowl!

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What to look for in a good backflow enclosure

We've already mentioned the importance of ASSE Certification in purchasing any backflow device enclosure. ASSE certification is designated in three different classes:

Class I – Freeze Protection - Class I shall have a minimum thermal resistance value of eight and a positive means of heat. These units have been designed and constructed to maintain a minimum internal temperature of 40.0°F.

Class II – Freeze Retardant - Class II shall have a minimum thermal resistance value of eight. These units have been designed and constructed to be installed in minimum external temperatures of 33.0°F.

Class III – Non-Freeze Protection - Class III are designed and constructed to provide system security for components when freezing temperatures are not a consideration.

Manufacturers of backflow enclosures spend a lot of time and money getting there models ASSE Certified. This is important to realize because an ASSE Certification not only means an enclosure will meet certain industry specification standards, but also that the manufacturer is serious about making high quality components and is more apt to stand behind their products. High quality models will also have a means of locking the cover onto the base with a padlock to prevent theft and vandalism. You also want to make sure the cover can be lifted off for easy inspection and maintainence of the backflow preventer. And a stake down system of some sort is another crucial element to keep all backflow enclosures fastened securely to the ground.

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