5 Effective Strategies to Boost Backflow Prevention Compliance Rates

1. Educate Customers on the Importance of Backflow Prevention

When customers understand the role backflow prevention plays in protecting public health and preventing contamination, they are more likely to comply without extensive reminders.

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How to educate:

• Create clear and engaging materials, like infographics or videos, explaining what backflow is and why testing is required.
• Include real-life examples of how backflow incidents have impacted communities to highlight the risks of non-compliance.
• Host workshops or webinars for property owners, businesses, and other key stakeholders.

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Pro tip: Share resources via newsletters, utility websites, and social media platforms to reach a wider audience.

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2. Streamline Communication With Customers

Consistent, easy-to-understand communication helps keep customers informed and reduces missed deadlines.

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Tactics:

• Send reminders via multiple channels (email, text, mail) well before the due date, with follow-ups at regular intervals.
• Provide step-by-step instructions on scheduling tests and submitting results to make compliance as simple as possible.
• Offer a self-service customer portal where customers can check their compliance status, download past reports, and find licensed testers.

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Tip: Automate reminders to go out 30 days and 15 days before deadlines to save staff time while keeping customers accountable.

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3. Enforce Penalties for Non-Compliance

While education and reminders work for most, penalties ensure that the remaining outliers take action.

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Penalties could include:

• Fines for missing deadlines.
• Issuing final notices with clear consequences, such as water service disconnection, if compliance is not achieved.
• Highlighting penalties visually—for instance, sending a colored sheet with the costs of shutting off and restoring water service as part of final notices.

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Why this works: Customers are far less likely to ignore compliance if they know enforcement is strict and visible.

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4. Make Compliance Convenient

The easier you make it for customers to comply, the higher your compliance rates will be.

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Ideas:

• Allow customers to schedule testing directly through your portal or provide a directory of approved testers.
• Integrate digital test submission processes so testers can submit results online, eliminating manual paperwork and delays.
• Standardize due dates annually to help customers form a habit of testing (e.g., irrigation backflow devices can have spring testing deadlines).

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Pro tip: Group multiple devices at a property under the same due date to reduce confusion and streamline the process for both customers and testers.

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5. Prioritize High-Risk and Frequently Delinquent Accounts

Focus your outreach and enforcement efforts on the customers most likely to impact compliance rates.

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Strategies:

• Identify high-risk devices (e.g., in hospitals, food facilities, or industrial plants) and ensure these are always in compliance.
• Use digital tools to flag properties with a history of late compliance and target them for earlier or more frequent communication.
• Consider proactive inspections or additional education efforts for customers in these categories to address the underlying barriers to compliance.

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Bonus Tip: Use Data to Continuously Improve

Track compliance trends over time and use the data to refine your strategies. For example, identify which communication methods yield the best response rates or which areas have the highest non-compliance. Digital tools like RPZ Flow can help you efficiently track and manage this information.

By combining education, convenience, and accountability, you’ll create a compliance program that’s easier for customers to follow and more effective for your utility.