# Our backflow device was stolen, so we didn’t have water
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-backflow-device-was-stolen-so-we-didn-t-have-water/1024341
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [October 27, 2025, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-backflow-device-was-stolen-so-we-didn-t-have-water/1024341 "2025-10-27T20:23:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2025, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-backflow-device-was-stolen-so-we-didn-t-have-water/1024341/1 "2025-10-27T20:23:37Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2025, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-backflow-device-was-stolen-so-we-didn-t-have-water/1024341/2 "2025-10-27T20:29:57Z")
Was it in a cage?
All the exposed copper fittings are in cages out here.
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### Author:  [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2025, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-backflow-device-was-stolen-so-we-didn-t-have-water/1024341/3 "2025-10-27T20:54:05Z")
No, but I assure you the replacement will be. And we’re installing cages around the other two backflow devices in our complex.
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### Author:  [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2025, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-backflow-device-was-stolen-so-we-didn-t-have-water/1024341/4 "2025-10-28T01:42:03Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2025, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-backflow-device-was-stolen-so-we-didn-t-have-water/1024341/5 "2025-10-28T01:54:17Z")
Large water users have large valves, with a lot of copper. They are almost always outside in warm-winter areas.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2025, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-backflow-device-was-stolen-so-we-didn-t-have-water/1024341/6 "2025-10-28T02:00:35Z")
> [@beowulff](#):
>
> Was it in a cage?
> All the exposed copper fittings are in cages out here.
If the thieves are already using something that cuts through metal, what good would a cage do?
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### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2025, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-backflow-device-was-stolen-so-we-didn-t-have-water/1024341/7 "2025-10-28T02:05:27Z")
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,