Early Saturday morning, around 3 am (we later determined) the backflow prevention device for my townhouse complex was stolen. I guess for the metals. The thieves literally sawed the device off, leaving bare pipes sticking out of the ground. As a result, all of us in that part of the complex, about 20 households altogether, were without water.
What a mess, it was the weekend so everything took longer. I was scrambling, the HOA was scrambling, the HOA management company was scrambling, still we didn’t have water again until 9 pm, 18 hours after the theft.
Was it in a cage?
All the exposed copper fittings are in cages out here.
No, but I assure you the replacement will be. And we’re installing cages around the other two backflow devices in our complex.
I’m surprised they were outside. Maybe to facilitate inspections? I have one for my boiler, and there is a mandated inspection every year. It’s in my garage, a good thing, because there is a lot of copper tubing associated with the boiler. I’m actually not sure which part is the backflow prevention device.
Large water users have large valves, with a lot of copper. They are almost always outside in warm-winter areas.
If the thieves are already using something that cuts through metal, what good would a cage do?
They generally use pipe cutters, which are silent. Pipe cutters won’t cut through a steel cage. A cage won’t stop a determined thief, but it will slow them down, and make them create more of a disturbance,