municipal utility · official record
Tempe utility backflow testing requirements
Tempe is a strong Arizona utility because it combines annual anniversary testing, registered testers, explicit notice timing, and escalation to water-service termination.
Fast answer
Who, when, and what device?
Tempe uses annual anniversary-date testing by a City-registered certified tester, sends reminders before the due date, and can escalate unresolved noncompliance to termination of water service.
- Who is affected
- Tempe customers with contained cross-connection hazards, including irrigation, fire-line, multifamily, commercial, and other assemblies tracked by the Water Utilities Division.
- Covered devices
- Reduced pressure assemblies · Pressure vacuum breakers · Double check assemblies for fire lines · Privately owned backflow prevention assemblies
- Risk if missed
- Tempe warns that unresolved overdue tests can move toward water-service termination and that stolen assemblies must be replaced with the same type of device.
What to do now
Choose the task on your notice
The official rule stays on this record; national guidance explains the task.
Exact workflow
Follow the local sequence
- 01
Confirm the due date from Tempe notice or city record.
- 02
Hire a Tempe-registered tester.
- 03
Complete the annual test on the anniversary cycle.
- 04
Post the result before enforcement moves toward shutoff.
Tester gate
Who can produce an accepted result?
Confirm tester eligibility directly with City of Tempe Backflow Prevention Program before scheduling.
View the official tester listSubmission route
Where the result goes
Use the official program contact and submission method below.
- Tempe backflow prevention program program page
- Tempe registered testing companies list official tester list
Local detail
Property, device, and enforcement notes
Open the parts that match the property and system. These details stay subordinate to the fast workflow above.
Program and failure notes
- Tempe publishes a 45-day reminder and overdue notice sequence.
- Water service termination is on the table for unresolved noncompliance.
- Fire lines are explicitly called out as double-check assembly use cases.
- Tempe sends an initial notice 45 days before the due date.
- Overdue notices follow if the test is not posted.
- Users must use a certified tester registered with the City.
Residential notes
- Tempe is useful for residential intent when irrigation, fire sprinklers, or another hazard brings the property into the containment program.
- Users are responsible for maintaining three years of testing and repair records.
Commercial notes
- Commercial and multifamily intent is strong because Tempe publishes both tester registration rules and real notice timing.
- Fire lines are clearly treated differently from ordinary irrigation assemblies.
Irrigation
Tempe distinguishes containment and isolation, which makes irrigation a real utility angle rather than a generic plumbing topic.
- Pressure vacuum breakers are described as isolation devices inside the user system.
- Replacement or relocation can require a plumbing permit.
- The city-owned meter and annual notices stay central to compliance.
Fire line
Tempe explicitly says fire lines should be protected with a double check assembly located outside or inside the fire riser room.
- Fire lines are called out directly on the program page.
- Tempe treats fire-line protection separately from ordinary PVB irrigation use.
- Registered tester routing still applies.
Cost and fee context
Testing is market-priced, but Tempe adds notice timing and tester-registration discipline.
Repair and retest cost rises if the assembly was stolen, relocated, or tied to a fire line.
The strongest local cost driver is avoiding Tempe enforcement and repeat site visits.
Evidence ledger
Official sources
Tempe runs a real containment program with annual anniversary testing, registered testers, notice timing, and direct fire-line language around double-check assemblies.
BackflowVerdict summarizes these records; the governing entity remains the authority.
Open official program page- 01Tempe backflow prevention programofficial program pageOpen source ↗
- 02Tempe registered testing companies listofficial tester list pdfOpen source ↗
Commercial handoff · separate layer
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