City shuts off water to backflow protesters

The Columbia Falls City Council weathered a mini-revolt Sept. 16. But instead of throwing boxes of tea into a bay, the protesters refused to pay inspectors to check equipment intended to protect the city’s water system.

The backflow prevention program began in Columbia Falls in 2000. The goal is to prevent organic or chemical contamination at residential, commercial or industrial sites from flowing back into the municipal water system.

“Columbia Falls is the only city in the Flathead that doesn’t chlorinate its drinking water, which is expensive and tastes bad,” city manager Susan Nicosia said.

For residential sites, the source of contamination could include underground irrigation systems, fish ponds or hot water heating systems. Owners must pay for both annual testing and repairs to ensure the devices are working.

Getting serious

About 296 of the city’s 1,840 residential water customers have backflow prevention devices in place, including the hundred or so added last year when the city increased efforts to track customers.

Last year, the city also moved the inspection deadline to Aug. 1 to better coincide with the irrigation season and directed city staff to increase compliance. Some customers, however, are reluctant to comply, Nicosia said.

“This year, for the first time since the inception of the program, the Public Works Department enforced the code and shut off water to properties refusing to test their backflow prevention devices,” Nicosia said. “The city doesn’t like shutting off anyone’s water, but the codes are meant to be enforced in an equal and non-discriminatory manner.”

Noting that Columbia Falls is the “kinder gentler city,” Nicosia explained that water customers were notified about the backflow prevention regulations in the city’s spring newsletter.

A letter was then sent to customers on June 13 with names of three testers and asking that test results be sent in by Aug. 1.

A second letter was sent on Aug. 8 to customers who have a backflow prevention device but had not submitted their annual testing report. They were given a new deadline, Aug. 14.

A third letter was sent on Aug. 19 to noncompliant customers with another deadline, Aug. 26. City staff then put door hanger notices at the homes of noncompliant customers on Aug. 26 asking them to either submit the test results or have a tester confirm that an appointment had been made.

Nicosia said 10 door hangers were delivered. Four of those customers tested right away or got an appointment, and two homes were found to be vacant. That left four customers in noncompliance.

“They refused to get tested,” Nicosia said, adding that she respects the right of citizens to protest against the government.

New ideas

The city met with protesters and other members of the public during a workshop on Sept. 9. The city was asked to take over all testing for residential customers and to pay for it, a proposal the city agreed to review. There was also discussion of a one-year amnesty during which all customers needing backflow prevention devices had to make themselves known and get the testing done.

“Anyone found to be hiding will have to pay a fine,” mayor Don Barnhart said. “That is not a threat.”

Barnhart said he didn’t expect city water customers would be willing to pay for the testing for other customerCs. He also noted that cities one day might be required to chlorinate their water even with the backflow prevention program in place.

Councilor Shawn Bates said it wouldn’t be fair to shift the cost of testing onto other customers, and councilor Doug Karper pointed out that it might not be fair to take business away from the testers.

But according to Steve Duffy, who addressed the council on Sept. 16, the three inspectors could be earning $20,000 a year between them for a process an eight-year-old could perform in only three minutes. He called the program a “protection racket” and the city a “bully.” He also claimed the chance a residential system could overcome the city’s high water pressure and contaminate the municipal supply was “one in a million.”

Cathy Finberg noted that the city only tracks customers who pass the test, not those who fail. She and others in the council chambers claimed to know dozens of customers who avoid testing. She also demanded the city apologize to her mother, Norma Finberg, whose water was also shut off.

John Cheff, whose water was shut off, said he wasn’t protesting — he just didn’t take the city’s letters seriously. Tanna Friske said she had always complied in the past but stopped testing recently because “nobody else was doing it.” Yvonne Peck said the important thing is for the inspectors to be responsible to the city so the city gets the proper reports — and compliance.