Customers that have not submitted a test and maintenance report for the current year will receive a 10-day notification for non-compliance.  Customers are required to have their backflow preventer assemblies on their property to be tested annually and submitted to the San Antonio Water System by June 30 of each year.  

Failure to submit a test report or within 10 working days of receiving the notice may result in water service turn offs.  Please submit a recent Backflow Test & Maintenance report or speak to one of our backflow representatives to see what you can do to get this issue resolved. 

For questions regarding your backflow prevention device test, please contact BSI Online:

This occurred for not submitting your test and maintenance report for the previous year with in the 10 working days of receiving your notification via certified mail.  The multiple attempts to contact the property owner have occurred to submit test reports have failed, resulting in non-compliant backflow assembly testing with SAWS and TCEQ rules and regulations therefore causing you to become delinquent with SAWS & TCEQ Backflow Requirements. 

You will need to have your water turned back on for testing to be conducted.  Please contact customer service at 210-704-SAWS (7297) and let them know that you will need to get your backflow assembly tested.  You need your water to be turned back on and you agree to get your assembly tested and submit the test report to the backflow section within 10 working days of the water service being turned back on.

You can contact customer service at 210-704-SAWS (7297) to request the water be turned back on for testing. This could take 24-48 hours depending on the time of day you call.  Once your water is turned back on, you have 10 days to complete the testing, or your service can be turned off again.  Please submit a copy of your test and maintenance report to BSI Online to prevent additional interruptions of service.

Fees can range from $15 to $35 depending on same day or next day times and afterhours.  

A backflow prevention assembly’s purpose is to protect the water supply from any possible contaminants or pollutants from entering the water distribution system due to backflow.  Backpressure and back siphonage can cause the direction of water to flow in the opposite direction, which is known as backflow. It is most often caused by a sudden drop in water pressure, which can happen any time you are attached to a municipal system. For example, if the fire department opens a hydrant a few streets over. If a property contains an irrigation system or on-site fire suppression system a backflow situation may occur when a fire hydrant is opened and the pressure is then reduced through the water supply. It then will cause a backflow of the non-potable water within the irrigation or fire suppression system to enter the potable water distribution system without proper backflow prevention assemblies in place. The backflow assembly will prevent any back pressure or back siphonage from occurring.

Backflow prevention assemblies are required when the water supply is connected to installations that may present a health or non-health hazard by contamination or pollution. Since there are many installations that may or may not require a backflow prevention assembly to be in place. A proper Customer Service Inspection must be completed to determine if backflow prevention assemblies are indeed required. Backflow preventers are commonly installed where clean water cross-connects with any of the following installations:

  • Large boilers — A large boiler can present a backflow hazard when the pressure inside gets too high, pushing the dirty water inside back up into the clean water system.
  • Irrigation systems — This includes extensive lawn sprinkler systems. Backflow from irrigation systems is hazardous because of the presence of fertilizers and lawn chemicals such as pesticides.
  • Fire suppression systems — Fire suppression systems can also create pressure differences and siphoning effects that can lead to backflow.

Backflow prevention devices (assemblies) are most common in commercial settings, but some residences may also need one. One of the most common reasons for a residential Backflow device (assembly) is having a lawn irrigation system that could be a potential cross connection with the drinking water system on your property.

If something happens that causes a drop-in pressure in the water mains, such as the use of a nearby fire hydrant or a burst pipe, contaminants can flow back through the sprinkler head because of the pressure difference. This can introduce fertilizers and pesticides into potable water.

Please submit a copy of the test report if you have one or contact the tester who performed the test and ask them to send you a copy of the test report and submit it to BSI Online.

It is important to make sure your tester submits a copy of the test report within 10 days of having it tested. 

We recommend that you call around and get quotes from different testers as costs vary between testing companies.

A Licensed Backflow Prevention Assembly Tester (BPAT). Keep in mind that if you are needing to have a fire line tested, you will need to make sure that your BPAT is licensed to test fire line backflow prevention assemblies. 

10 working days from the day that you received the notice. 

Contact our backflow department and speak to one of our representatives. 

Contact our backflow department and speak with one of our representatives who can further assist with this. 

Please photo document the location at which the irrigation has been removed or show proof that the system has been removed. We may need to send out an inspector to verify before removing you from our system. 

Each address is unique and based on what is located at that address determines if you receive an annual notice from SAWS.  Technically all backflows must be tested annually, whether you received a notice from SAWS or not, they must be tested annually.  Please contact SAWS if there are questions regarding your address.  Single family homes with irrigation systems in combination with septic systems, wells, or alternative water onsite are considered higher risk and receive notices from SAWS. 

We recommend that you always get a copy of your test report for your records.  Normally the tester will automatically send in the report to SAWS, but if you receive a notice for non-compliance, you’ll have a copy on hand to send over to us.

Test reports and questions can be sent to the below points of contact.
(Please include the wording “10-Day Notification” in your subject line for emails or voicemail)

Email:  backflowprevention@saws.org
Phone: (210)-233-2910
Fax: (210)-233-4749
Website:  www.saws.org/backflow