The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO) is offering educational opportunities for the plumbing community in New Orleans. These classes can help plumbers expand their business into backflow prevention.
SWBNO is working with the Louisiana Department of Health to enforce backflow prevention efforts for commercial and residential users. Our customers will need certified backflow testers and assembly repairers to ensure their compliance – and New Orleans needs more testers.
We encourage plumbers to take this opportunity to increase their business or even start their own by getting a backflow tester certification. To support that, SWBNO is hosting a backflow tester certification course and a recertification class this summer.
The certification course covers basic backflow hydraulics, cross-connection identification, degree of hazard, operation of backflow prevention assemblies, applications, and comprehensive testing steps and requirements for all USC-approved backflow prevention assemblies.
The backflow tester certification is a 40-hour class with no prerequisites.
The class will take place July 29 through August 2 at the Carrollton Water Treatment Plant in New Orleans. The class costs $500.
Start-up costs for a backflow tester business are relatively low. To provide backflow testing services, a person would need to invest in their own gages (roughly $800-1200) and liability insurance. Gages will also need to be calibrated annually.
For those seeking recertification, the class will take place on July 30. Participants will join the certification class for an 8-hour day. The recertification costs $150.
To register for either class, contact Kronda Page at kpage@sautech.edu or call (870) 574-4550.
Later this fall, SWBNO will also host an assembly repair class.
Participants will learn about tools and techniques that will help them to repair and maintain backflow preventers efficiently and effectively. They will practice hand-on repair on different types of assemblies from a variety of manufacturers.
The assembly repair class is a 16-hour course.
The course is tailored to plumbers and has a prerequisite of being:
- A certified journeyman plumber
- A master plumber
- An irrigation tech who holds both a valid backflow tester certification and a contractor license
The class will take place October 15 – 16 at the Carrollton Water Treatment Plant. The class costs $400.
To register for classes, contact Kronda Page at kpage@sautech.edu or call (870) 574-4550.