COMPREHENSIVE AND RAPID-RESPONSE CROSS CONNECTION SURVEY AND BACKFLOW CORRECTIVE ACTION ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, GEORGIA

Warner Robins Air Logistics Center (WR-ALC), located on Robins Air Force Base (AFB) in Warner Robins, Georgia, is a major installation in the United States Air Force (USAF) Materiel Command. The Base employs over 25,000 people and has key responsibilities for USAF mission-critical aircraft maintenance and for the development and application of new technologies.To proactively manage the regulated installation and maintenance of backflow prevention devices (BPD), required by the Safe Water Drinking Act (SWDA) and USAF regulations, the Environmental Management Directorate (WR-ALC/EM) formed an integrated Team of WRALC/EM, Civil Engineering Group (CEG), Bioenvironmental Engineering Flight (BEF), and contractor personnel to develop and execute a comprehensive, rapid-response program to address potential cross-connection and BPD issues in over 650 facilities on the Base. These efforts were coordinated with sampling of the potable water system. The field survey was completed in approximately five months, and the data management system was fully implemented three months following.This paper presents detailed descriptions of the successful execution of this project, including: a) Team development to best respond to short-term issues and execute longterm solutions; b) findings and key issues related to the survey and water sampling efforts; c) the evaluation, selection, and application of a BPD data management system that could be integrated with the WR-ALC/EM Geographical Information System (GIS); and d) development of a web-based project management application to support client oversight efforts. This paper will be of interest to Department of Defense, industrial, and municipal agencies responsible for the development and implementation of backflow prevention programs.