Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/247585
TAP WATER AND SOFTWARE City residents who do not have backflow preventers will be required to get — and pay for — them. Image from photobucket THE CITY COMMISSION LEARNS THAT ABOUT 3,200 CITY UTILITY CUSTOMERS WILL HAVE TO PAY $350 FOR A BACKFLOW PREVENTER, AND IT APPROVES NEW POLICE DEPARTMENT COMPUTER EQUIPMENT By Stan Zimmerman City Editor If you have a pool or well, a unanimous decision by the City Commission on Jan. 21 is going to cost you $350. That is the expense of a backflow preventer, which stops contamination of the city's drinking-water system. from a major owner of apartment buildings in town — Harvey Vengroff — prompted the city to abandon "free" and substitute "pay" so all customers are treated equally under the law. The city was planning to give the U-shaped It was at the height of the plumbing away for recession, and there was [City] free to residential Commission resistance to forcing people water customers, and to pay $350. it had $1.2 million of Sarah Warren the devices ready. Assistant City Attorney But the threat of a City of Sarasota class-action lawsuit The backflow preventers are necessary for homes with irrigation, wells and pools, along with those that use reclaimed water for irrigation. Utilities Director Mitt Tidwell said the city has 19,000