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UNDERSTANDING HOW LAKE JACKSON MAINTAINS THE WATER YOU USE AND DRINK
Healthy Water: The Community Response Campaign seeks to help residents and business owners learn their role in keeping the city water supply healthy and safe.
This site is part of an ongoing educational series that discusses simple ways residents can stop cross-contamination in the municipal water supply. The city will update it with more information as content becomes available.
Vacuum breakers are simple devices that can help keep a water supply clean and safe.
They stop water from being siphoned backward into a water system’s pressure drop. They can stop cross-connections.
Cross-connections refer to physical connections between clean water and a liquid or gas that could contaminate the water. When cross-connections occur, a public water supply can become unsafe to drink.
When vacuum breakers are placed on garden hoses they help the community have safe drinking water because water can only flow out of the hose. They stop backflow, which happens when contaminated water flows back into the city water supply.
The most common source of cross-connection lies in many Lake Jackson backyards.
It is the regular garden hose.
Cross-contamination can occur when a person: forces a garden hose into a clogged gutter, downspout, or sewer pipe to flush out a clog; connects the hose directly to a hose-end sprayer for pesticide or fertilizer treatments; connects the hose to a soap-and-brush attachment to wash a car or lets the end of the hose lie in a puddle or pool of water on the ground.
Connecting a vacuum breaker on every outdoor faucet is a simple action every resident can take to help the city keep Lake Jackson water safe for everyone.
WATCH: LAKE JACKSON'S HEALTHY WATER VIDEO SERIES