Backflow Testing and Certification

If you have a lawn irrigation system in Illinois, you have a backflow prevention device on it — and state code requires that device to be tested every year by a licensed inspector. Turf Industries has been doing that work across the North Shore since 1984, and we hold the plumbing license Illinois requires to do it.

Illinois requires an annual test, and it isn’t the village’s job

The Illinois Plumbing Code requires every lawn sprinkler system connected to drinking water to be protected by an RPZ — a reduced pressure zone assembly (77 Ill. Adm. Code 890.1140). That assembly must be tested before it is first used, and at least once a year after that (77 Ill. Adm. Code 890.1130), with the results submitted to your community water supply (35 Ill. Adm. Code 604.1510).

Three things routinely surprise homeowners:

  • The test is required whether or not you ran the system this year. Shutting it down for a season doesn’t exempt the device.
  • A repair triggers a new test. Fixing the assembly doesn’t reset the clock — it starts a new one.
  • Your village doesn’t perform the test. It only receives the report. Arranging the test is the property owner’s responsibility.

Illinois only lets a licensed plumber do this work

A backflow test has to be performed by a Cross-Connection Control Device Inspector — a CCCDI — and Illinois issues that credential only to someone already authorized to perform plumbing under the state Plumbing License Law. It requires formal training, a written exam, a hands-on performance exam, and annual renewal with the Illinois EPA.

That is why most irrigation companies don’t test backflow devices. They aren’t permitted to. They refer the work out to a plumber.

We don’t refer it out. Daniel Brown holds Illinois Plumbers License 058-200551; Turf Industries holds Plumber Contractors License 055-045638 and Irrigation Contractors License 060-009201. The same company that maintains your sprinkler system tests and certifies the device on it.

The same rule governs installation. Under Illinois code, only a licensed plumber may make the connection between a sprinkler system and its backflow device, and a licensed plumber must inspect every system an irrigation contractor installs.

You probably don’t need to be home

Most residential RPZ assemblies sit outside, near where the irrigation line leaves the building. If yours is outdoors and we can reach it, you don’t need to be there — we test it, tag it, and file the report. If the device is in a basement, a mechanical room, or behind a locked gate, we’ll arrange access when we schedule.

If your device fails

A failed test isn’t unusual. RPZ assemblies rely on rubber seats and springs that wear, and our winters are hard on them. Because we’re a licensed plumbing contractor, we can usually rebuild or replace the assembly during the same visit instead of handing you off to someone else. Occasionally a part has to be ordered and we return to finish. Code requires a new test after any repair, and we take care of that too.

What we test

We test and certify backflow assemblies on:

  • Lawn irrigation systems and swimming pools — the RPZ assemblies required on residential and commercial properties, tested annually to prevent cross-connection hazards.
  • Commercial boiler and HVAC systems — where treated water, glycol, or conditioning chemicals could reach the potable supply.
  • Fire suppression systems — double-check and RP fire-line assemblies, installed and tested to NFPA and local code requirements.
  • Restaurant and food service — kitchen equipment and process connections that could expose drinking water to oils or chemicals.

We file the paperwork

Most North Shore communities track backflow compliance through a third-party system — BSI Online in Glencoe, Deerfield and Kenilworth; Aqua Backflow in Glenview — while others take the report directly from the tester. We’re registered in both systems and submit your results for you. You don’t chase forms or deadlines.

We also tag the device and leave the maintenance record on site, as Illinois code requires.

Where we work

We test backflow assemblies across the North Shore, Lake County, the northwest suburbs and the north side of Chicago.

That includes Wilmette, Winnetka, Glencoe, Kenilworth, Highland Park, Glenview, Northfield, Deerfield and Lake Forest on the North Shore; Lake Zurich, Barrington, Libertyville, Mundelein, Long Grove, Kildeer, Hawthorn Woods and Vernon Hills across Lake County; Palatine, Arlington Heights, Inverness, Buffalo Grove and Schaumburg to the west; and Evanston, Skokie and Chicago’s north side.

If you don’t see your town listed, call us — we cover more ground than we can sensibly fit on a page.

Schedule your test

Tell us your address and roughly where the device sits, and we’ll get you on the schedule. Send us a message or call 847.516.6473.

By law. The Illinois Plumbing Code (77 Ill. Adm. Code 890.1130) requires backflow prevention assemblies to be tested before initial operation and at least annually after that, and Illinois EPA rules (35 Ill. Adm. Code 604.1510) require the results to be submitted to your community water supply. Your village decides how the report gets filed, not whether the test is required.

Yes. Illinois requires the device to be tested annually whether or not the system is in use. Turning the system off for a season doesn’t exempt the assembly, and villages still expect a current report on file.

Only a Cross-Connection Control Device Inspector (CCCDI). Illinois issues that credential only to someone already authorized to perform plumbing under the state Plumbing License Law, after formal training, a written exam and a hands-on performance exam, with annual renewal through the Illinois EPA. Turf Industries holds the plumbing licenses in house, so we test and certify our own work rather than referring it to a third party.

Usually not. Most residential RPZ assemblies are outdoors near where the irrigation line leaves the building, and if we can reach it we don’t need you there. If your device is in a basement, a mechanical room, or behind a locked gate, we’ll arrange access when we schedule the visit.

We shut the assembly down briefly, connect a calibrated test kit to its test cocks, and verify that the check valves hold and the relief valve opens at the pressure the code requires. It takes a few minutes. We then tag the device, leave the maintenance record on site, and file the certified results.

Failures are common — the rubber seats and springs inside an RPZ wear out, and freezing weather is hard on them. As a licensed plumbing contractor we can usually rebuild or replace the assembly on the same visit. If a part has to be ordered we’ll return to finish. Illinois requires a new test after any repair, and we handle that as part of the job.

Yes. Most North Shore communities use a third-party tracking system — BSI Online in Glencoe, Deerfield and Kenilworth, Aqua Backflow in Glenview — and others accept the report directly from the tester. We’re registered in both systems and submit your results for you.

Not in Illinois. State code requires that a lawn sprinkler system connected to a potable water supply be equipped with an RPZ specifically (77 Ill. Adm. Code 890.1140). A pressure vacuum breaker or a double check valve may be acceptable in other states, but it doesn’t satisfy Illinois code on lawn irrigation. If you moved here from elsewhere, or inherited a system with an older device, it’s worth having us look at it.

Yes — before it is first operated, not a year later. New systems also have to be registered with the Illinois Department of Public Health, with a test certificate filed within 30 days of completion. Most homeowners have never heard of this requirement, and it’s one of the things we take care of.

A backflow device is the only thing separating your drinking water from whatever is sitting in the irrigation lines — fertilizer, pesticide, standing water and soil bacteria. When pressure in the main drops, that water can be pulled backward into the house and into the municipal supply. The assembly is a mechanical part that fails silently, which is exactly why the annual test exists.