Tacoma Water (Tacoma Public Utilities): backflow testing rules
Serves Tacoma and parts of Pierce County, WA. Every point below comes from Tacoma Water (Tacoma Public Utilities)'s own pages, linked; check your notice for your own deadline.
Who must test
- Tacoma Water requires a Washington-certified backflow assembly tester (BAT) to inspect assemblies after installation and test them every year, and requires a copy of each test report. Source.
Notices and deadlines
- Customers can join a free reminder program; Tacoma Water then tells the customer's preferred BAT when the annual test is due and handles results with the BAT directly. Source.
How the report is filed
- Tacoma Water publishes a downloadable backflow assembly test report and instructions for completing it; customers in the reminder program do not have to send results themselves. Source.
Tester registration
- Any Washington-certified BAT may test. A BAT not on Tacoma's list must provide current state certification and test equipment calibration certificates, or Tacoma will not accept the reports. Source.
Approved testers
- Tacoma Water shows its authorized backflow assembly tester list on the program page, and testers join through a participation form. inline HTML section, not extracted). Join form: mytpu.org (not downloaded). Source.
If a test is missed
- If an assembly is not tested, Tacoma Water may add a $100 fee per assembly to the bill and keep adding fees until testing is done, install an RP at the meter at the owner's expense, or terminate water service. Source.
- Termination of water service is one of the listed enforcement actions for not testing. Source.
Read October 6, 2026. Program page: mytpu.org.