Backflow News
Watts Backflow Awareness Survey 2024: 73% of Homeowners Support Mandatory Testing Once They Understand the Risk
Watts Water Technologies published the results of a Consumer Backflow Awareness Survey covering 1,000 single-family homeowners on public water systems across the United States — and the findings reveal a striking gap between the prevalence of backflow risk and homeowner awareness of it. The survey results, which Watts has made available for download along with supporting infographics and educational resources at watts.com/backflowsurvey, provide the most comprehensive look at homeowner understanding of backflow prevention in recent years, and they carry important implications for how water utilities, regulators, and backflow professionals communicate the case for compliance.
The Awareness Gap
The central finding of the survey is that most homeowners have never heard of backflow preventers. The word ‘most’ here is not rhetorical — the survey found that a majority of the 1,000 single-family homeowners surveyed were genuinely unaware that backflow prevention devices exist, what they do, and why they are required. This is a remarkable finding given that backflow prevention assemblies are installed on tens of millions of residential irrigation systems across the United States and are the subject of mandatory annual or periodic testing programs in all 50 states. A device that is present on the property of tens of millions of American homeowners, required by law to be tested on a schedule, and capable of causing a contamination event that affects the entire neighborhood if it fails — and most of the homeowners who have one don’t know it exists.
The survey was motivated in part by a 2024 event that made the awareness gap suddenly very concrete: in 2024, Grand Prairie, Texas experienced a massive backflow incident when firefighting foam entered the water supply, affecting approximately 60,000 people and forcing school closures, water distribution points, and a city-wide Do Not Use advisory for the affected area. The personal and financial impact of that event — which Watts referenced in survey materials — made the stakes of backflow prevention failures visible to a general audience in a way that regulatory compliance language rarely achieves.
Education Changes Everything
The survey’s most practically useful finding for anyone working in the backflow prevention industry is this: once homeowners receive simple, accessible information about backflow prevention and what it means for their water supply, support for mandatory testing increases dramatically. 73% of surveyed homeowners who were given easy-to-understand information about backflow prevention agreed that backflow preventers should be necessary. 71% agreed that backflow preventers should be tested at least annually. These numbers are not subtle — nearly three-quarters of American homeowners, once they understand what backflow is and what happens when prevention fails, actively support the compliance requirement that their water utility is already imposing on them.
The challenge identified by the survey is that most homeowners are not receiving that information effectively. Survey respondents reported feeling ‘left in the dark’ by their municipality — they receive compliance notices and testing deadlines without meaningful context for why those requirements exist. A compliance notice that says ‘your backflow preventer is due for annual testing’ communicates a legal obligation. A communication that explains ‘your backflow preventer is the device that prevents contaminated water from entering your neighborhood’s drinking water supply — here is what happens when one fails and why your annual test matters’ communicates a public health purpose. The survey suggests the latter approach is significantly more effective at generating homeowner engagement.
Video as the Preferred Education Format
Watts developed a public education video as part of the survey initiative — an accessible, non-technical explanation of backflow in a format designed to resonate with homeowners. The survey data indicated that video is the format homeowners most prefer for receiving this information. This aligns with broader trends in public health communication that show visual and narrative formats consistently outperform text-only notices for generating understanding and action. For water utilities developing their public education programs — a requirement under high-regulation state programs including California, Nebraska, Connecticut, and others — the survey suggests that investing in video content and digital distribution channels is a more effective strategy than mailing technical compliance notices.
What the Survey Means for Water Utilities and Backflow Professionals
The survey findings carry operational implications for every stakeholder in the backflow prevention ecosystem. For water utilities, the awareness gap documented by Watts represents an opportunity: the homeowners most resistant to compliance notices are not typically hostile to the underlying public health purpose. They simply don’t know what their backflow preventer is, what it does, or what is at stake if it fails. Closing that knowledge gap through better-designed communications, accessible educational content, and proactive outreach has the potential to significantly reduce the volume of compliance enforcement actions utilities need to pursue. Homeowners who understand the stakes tend to comply without enforcement.
For backflow testers and contractors, the survey underscores the value of taking even a few minutes to explain what you’re doing and why at every residential service call. The homeowner who understands that you are confirming their device is protecting their neighborhood’s drinking water is more likely to schedule follow-up testing promptly, mention the device to neighbors who might not know they have one, and treat the compliance requirement as something worth maintaining rather than an annoying annual cost.
Download Watts Backflow Awareness Survey Resources
The full 2024/2025 Backflow Awareness Survey results, infographics, downloadable resources for municipalities, and the homeowner education video are available at watts.com/backflowsurvey. The materials are designed to be shared with homeowners, neighbors, and community groups to help close the awareness gap that the survey documented.
Source: Watts Water Technologies — Consumer Backflow Awareness Survey (watts.com/backflowsurvey); Watts — 2025 Backflow Awareness Survey reference. Published at getyourbackflowtested.com/backflow-news