Council approves narrowing backflow rules to align with TCEQ hazard table

The Nacogdoches City Council voted March 5 to adopt updates to Chapter 106 of the city code that limit local backflow-prevention requirements to the hazard-risk categories established by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, staff said.

Kaye Sofferman, assistant director of public works and city engineer, told the council the change removes a blanket requirement that had previously required reduced-pressure-zone (RPZ) backflow preventers for all commercial and industrial water accounts. "We have reviewed what we have in our code of ordinances under chapter 106," Sofferman said, and the amendments "fall more in line with what the TCEQ has established as hazard risk." She said staff can now perform hazard evaluations and apply state-aligned requirements rather than the broader mandate that had been in place under prior administrations.

The edit keeps multifamily complexes that use a master meter subject to the higher protection standard. "We did feel it's still necessary to make multifamily and residential complexes still fall under that umbrella just because when there's a master meter and you don't know which of the residences are flushing who knows what down the toilet," Sofferman said, noting enforcement and tracing contamination is harder when many units share a single meter.

Council discussion focused on cost and fairness for property owners who previously installed RPZs. The council’s presiding officer said earlier requirements were a "gross overreach" that imposed significant costs on some owners; Sofferman and other councilmembers and staff replied that the city originally adopted stricter rules after TCEQ citations and that the update corrects confusion about which accounts require which protections.

Sofferman described the device types referenced in the ordinance: RPZs (reduced-pressure-zone backflow preventers), double-check valves, vacuum breakers and air gaps. "RPZ is the most fail-safe device that there is," she said. Council members observed that returning to TCEQ-aligned requirements should reduce the number of failing inspections and reinspections.

A councilmember moved to approve the changes as presented (item 7B); the motion was seconded, the council voted by voice and the motion carried.

The ordinance change was presented as a clarification to make local code consistent with state hazard tables; staff said it should reduce unnecessary costs for some businesses while retaining protections where the hazard analysis indicates a risk.