(A) It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to bypass or remove a backflow prevention method without the approval of the Department. Any person, firm or corporation violating the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished in accordance with the Arizona Revised Statutes. Each separate day or part thereof during which any violation of this subsection occurs or continues shall be deemed to constitute a separate offense, and upon conviction thereof shall be punishable as herein provided.

(B) If the Department discovers that a customer has not installed a required backflow prevention method or that a backflow prevention method has been improperly tested or maintained, bypassed or removed, or that an unprotected cross-connection exists in the customer’s water system, the water service to that service connection shall be disconnected if the situation is not remedied within the time specified in the notice sent to the customer as required by this section. The service shall not be restored until the condition is remedied.

(C) Water service to a fire sprinkler system shall not be subject to disconnection under this section. If a situation which could otherwise result in discontinuance of water service in subsection (B) of this section is not remedied within the time provided in the notice sent to the customer, the customer shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Each separate day or part thereof during which any violation of this subsection occurs or continues shall be deemed to constitute a separate offense, and upon conviction thereof shall be punishable as herein provided.

(D) Prior to disconnecting any water service because a condition set forth in subsection (A) of this section exists, the Department shall send a notice to the customer describing the condition and notifying the customer the condition must be remedied within 45 days after mailing of the notice by the Department. If the condition is not remedied within the 45-day period, the Department shall send a second notice, by certified mail, to the customer notifying the customer that water service will be disconnected in 15 days if the condition is not remedied within the time period.

(E) The Department may disconnect, without notice, water service to any customer when the Department discovers that the customer’s water system is contaminating the public potable water supply. (Ord. 125 § 13, passed 9-11-1995. Code 2012 § 53.13.)