Matthews, NCBackflowTesting

Older sprinkler systems, shops on US 74 and NC 51, storefronts on Trade Street

About 45 percent of the homes in Matthews were built in the 1980s and 1990s. Brightmoor, Hampton Green, The Heathers and Thornblade all belong to those decades or the years just after. If a house there has in-ground sprinklers tied to public water, it has a backflow assembly, and that assembly needs testing. The age of the system does not exempt it.

Businesses carry a wider duty. Charlotte Water requires an assembly on each connection a commercial customer has, so a shop on US 74 or NC 51 may have one on its domestic water, another on irrigation and a third on the fire line. Downtown, seven of the ten buildings in the historic commercial district face Trade Street, and a building with tenants is one of the uses the utility lists for a reduced pressure assembly.

• Homes with sprinkler systems on public water
• Retail and restaurants on US 74 and NC 51
• Dental, medical and veterinary practices
• Multi-tenant buildings downtown
• Any property with a fire line

The Charlotte Water rules, and why the 2003 date matters here

Four points cover most situations. The test has to be done by a company on Charlotte Water's approved tester list. The tester, not the owner, sends in the results. Irrigation systems installed since March 24, 2003 need a reduced pressure (RP) assembly, while an approved double check from before that date can stay until it has to be replaced. And commercial customers must keep an assembly on every connection, tested at installation and once a year.

The 2003 date matters more in Matthews than in newer towns, because so much of the housing went up before it. If your sprinkler system is original to a 1990 house, it may still have a double check, and it will move to an RP when that valve wears out. For timing, go by the due date on your notice. If your mailing address says Matthews but your water bill comes from Union County Water, a different program applies.

Test day at a house or a storefront, and what a failed test leads to

The tester closes the water downstream of the assembly for a short while, hooks a calibrated gauge kit to the test ports and compares the reading at every check valve and at the relief valve with the value it has to meet. Plan on 20 to 30 minutes per assembly. For a shop or restaurant we can do it before opening so the water is not off during trading hours. You get the result before we leave.

A pass is sent to Charlotte Water and you keep a copy. A fail is not the end of the assembly. We go through the readings with you, and in many cases a tired check valve or a dirty relief valve is the whole story and a rebuild kit fixes it. Our backflow repair service is priced separately and quoted before work starts. An old double check that cannot be rebuilt is replaced with an RP, then tested and reported.

Price, the 30-Day Compliance Guarantee and scheduling for managers

Each assembly costs $199 to test, and sending the report to the utility is part of that price. The 30-Day Compliance Guarantee is simple. Your assembly gets tested inside 30 days. After that we hold the assembly's details on file and send a reminder before the next due date. You also get a copy of each report for your own files.

Property managers and real estate agents are regular customers. If you look after several buildings in Matthews, or one building with several assemblies, we put them on a single schedule with one contact and test them together where the due dates allow, sending in each report as it passes. Agents listing a house with irrigation can order the test alongside a plumbing inspection, and anything else the building needs is covered by commercial plumbing or everyday plumbing repair.