Ditto to Bill's description for the situation in Boston. We had to install the costly systems (but did get Community Development Block Grant funds to help with this) at all Boston community gardens. And yes there is a nearly annual $125 inspection fee -- more than the cost of the annual water use, as well.
Betsy Johnson 11 1/2 Greenwich Park Boston, MA 02118 617-536-1711 be...@bgjohnson.com On Dec 7, 2010, at 1:06 PM, William Maynard wrote: > All > > Backflows are to stop contamination of the city water system.. usually new > gardens are required to put in back flows if going thru a water dept or > agency for a new tap to activation of an old line. > > And yes back flows are now being asked for on existing gardens... > > they can cost $1,000s of dollars.. the cost is determined by the size of your > water service.. the larger the pipe - the higher the cost. You would also > want to add an insulting blanket to the device as they can freeze and break.. > also install a cage around it to prevent the stealing of the backflow device > as its made out of copper (we lost 40 of them in city parks in a few nights); > the cage requires a concrete slab around the device. > > This device also needs to be tested each year by the state (at least in > California) at a cost of about $100 - $150 a year. > > One possible solution is that you install a $5 brass backflow devices on all > your hose connections at the faucet or hose bib; but this may not be approved > in place of the full back flow device, each water dept is different. We had > to do both at one garden.. over kill for sure. > > Cities are also wanting all hose bibs in gardens to be labeled as non-potable > water - another cost that you may need to address. > > Hope this helps some > > Bill Maynard > City of Sacramento Community Garden Program > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: community_garden-boun...@list.communitygarden.org > [mailto:community_garden-boun...@list.communitygarden.org] On Behalf Of Eliza > Sutton > Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2010 9:04 AM > To: community_garden@list.communitygarden.org > Subject: [Community_garden] backflow valve for community gardens - > alternatives? > > greetings from providence, ri. the city's water dept. is pressuring our > organization > to install backflow valves in all of our community gardens, which is costing > us > thousands of dollars. do any of you know of any alternatives that we can > explore, > or have any of you been told to get backflow valves for your gardens and what > did > you do? thanks! > > eliza sutton > community gardens coordinator > southside community land trust > providence, ri 02906 > > > > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > <http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20101207/5e9191ac/attachment.html> > _______________________________________________ > The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's > services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out > how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org > > To post an e-mail to the list: community_garden@list.communitygarden.org > > To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: > http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org > > > > _______________________________________________ > The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's > services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out > how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org > > To post an e-mail to the list: community_garden@list.communitygarden.org > > To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: > http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org > _______________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: community_garden@list.communitygarden.org To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org
