Got a letter from Raleigh Water? We test, tag and file your backflow assembly — the test has run $170 plus tax, usually done in under an hour, and we submit the passing result for you.
If you have an irrigation system in Wake Forest, Raleigh Water requires a certified test of your backflow prevention assembly on a set schedule — and the passing report has to reach them, not just your inbox. We do the test, tag the assembly, and submit the result through VEPO so the file closes without you chasing it.
Most of the calls we take start the same way: an email or letter arrives from the City of Raleigh’s Cross-Connection Control Program, with a due date and a device number on it, and no obvious next step. Text us a photo of that letter and we will work from the due date and assembly details printed on it.
We test every common assembly type — reduced pressure zone (RPZ), double check valve and pressure vacuum breaker (PVB) — on residential irrigation, domestic and commercial connections. If yours fails, we quote the repair or replacement before touching it, which keeps the whole thing with one contractor instead of two.
Get on the schedule
This is the part most homeowners get wrong, because irrigation is not on the same clock as everything else. The schedule below is Raleigh Water’s, taken from the City of Raleigh’s own cross-connection FAQ.
| Assembly | Test interval | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Residential irrigation | Every 3 years | Passing test submitted by July 1st |
| Commercial irrigation | Annually | Tested by July 1st |
| All other assemblies (domestic, fire) | Annually | Set by zip code |
| After a repair or replacement | Retest required | Submitted within 15 days |
Book before the June rush. Every irrigation deadline in the city lands on July 1st, so May and June are the busiest weeks of our year for this. Raleigh Water will not accept a test filed too far ahead either — roughly two months before the due date is the earliest useful window. Call in spring and you get your pick of mornings. Read Raleigh Water’s backflow FAQ.
It is a short, undramatic visit. Here is the whole thing, so you know what you are agreeing to before you book.
Text or email a photo of the notice from Raleigh Water. It carries the due date, the device serial and the hazard type, which tells us what we are walking up to.
We book you close enough to the deadline that the filing counts, and early enough that a failed assembly still leaves room to repair and retest.
The water to the assembly is shut off for part of the test while the gauge readings are taken. Plan to be home. The whole visit runs under an hour and the water is only off for a portion of it.
The passing result goes to Raleigh Water through VEPO, their electronic reporting vendor, and a copy of the test report comes to you. If it failed, you get the quote to repair or replace before anything else happens.
Four real situations from our own call log over the past year, with names and addresses left out.
Situation: A Wake Forest homeowner with a lawn irrigation system received a letter from the City of Raleigh saying the backflow assembly needed a test and the result had to be submitted through the city’s system. They had no idea whether that was something a plumber did.
How we helped: Took the details straight off the letter, scheduled the test, and handled the submission to Raleigh Water rather than handing the paperwork back.
Result: passing test on file before the deadline, copy of the report to the homeowner, nothing for them to chase.
Situation: A returning customer off Sanford Creek pulls his irrigation backflow every fall so it does not freeze, and called in spring asking whether it had to be back on the pipe before we could test it.
How we helped: Confirmed the assembly has to be installed and under pressure to be tested, and gave him the choice — reinstall it himself, or have the technician put it back on at the start of the appointment. Booked for early June, inside the filing window.
Result: no wasted trip, and a question worth asking before you book if you winterise yours.
Situation: The landscape committee for a Wake Forest subdivision needed inspections on the backflow preventer valves serving the common-area irrigation, and had questions about how the testing worked across several devices.
How we helped: Routed them straight to the person here who runs locates, permits, inspections and backflows, so the committee got scheduling and reporting answers from one contact rather than a dispatcher.
Result: a single point of contact for a multi-device site, which is what makes an HOA renewal manageable.
Situation: A customer whose assembly had just been reconnected after some work called in April. Her certification was not due until July 1st, and she wanted it on the books “before I forget about it.”
How we helped: Scheduled inside the acceptable filing window and bundled a tankless water heater service onto the same visit, since both were due.
Result: one trip, two jobs, and a deadline met without a June scramble.
Raleigh Water is specific about this, and it is worth knowing before you hire anyone — a test filed by someone who is not certified does not close your file.
Only a City of Raleigh Certified Tester may test a backflow assembly in their service area. Certification comes from an approved school, and the test kit itself has to be calibrated annually.
Raleigh Water states that a Licensed Class I Plumber “can install, replace, or repair irrigation, domestic, and fire backflow assemblies for all structures.” A Class II licence is limited to single-family homes.
White’s Plumbing holds North Carolina Plumbing Class I Contractor licence L.30233, verifiable on the State Board’s public register. That is the top classification, so the repair or replacement side is covered on every structure type — irrigation, domestic or fire, residential or commercial — and the retest stays on the same file instead of becoming a second contractor.
NC Plumbing Class I Contractor · Licence L.30233Issued to White’s Plumbing, LLC of Youngsville by the North Carolina State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors. Current through 31 December 2027 — check it yourself on the Board’s register.
Licence classes quoted from the City of Raleigh Cross-Connection Control Program FAQ. Verify licence L.30233 on the NC State Board licence register.
Backflow work sits on the boundary between plumbing and irrigation, and plenty of people get sent to the wrong trade. Here is the honest line.
Sprinkler heads, zone valves and irrigation controllers are a landscaping or irrigation contractor’s work. We will tell you that on the phone rather than send a plumber who cannot help you.
Wake Forest has been on Raleigh Water since the 2005 system mergerThis throws people constantly, so it is worth stating plainly: the Town of Wake Forest merged its water and sewer system with the City of Raleigh in July 2005. Raleigh assumed responsibility for operating and maintaining the system, which is why your water bill, your meter and your cross-connection notices all come from Raleigh Water even though you live in Wake Forest.
That merger is also why the same rules reach Youngsville, Rolesville, Wendell, Knightdale and Zebulon addresses on the Raleigh system. We work across that whole footprint from our shop on Park Avenue in Youngsville, about fifteen minutes up Capital Boulevard from downtown Wake Forest, so a Heritage or Wakefield appointment is a short run for us rather than a cross-county trip.
The practical upshot: every connection to Raleigh Water’s public system needs containment backflow protection of some kind, and the city code makes the customer — not the utility — the party responsible for keeping it tested. If a letter has your name on it, the clock is yours.
730 Park Ave
Youngsville, NC 27596
Phone: (919) 435-0736
Emergency: (919) 316-0025
Hours: Emergency service 24/7
Backflow testing across Wake Forest, Youngsville, Rolesville, Franklinton, Louisburg, Raleigh, Wendell and Knightdale.
Related: well pump services, water filtration & softeners, leak detection and our full plumbing services.
Reviews from homeowners and businesses across Wake Forest, Youngsville and the surrounding Raleigh Water service area.
Our backflow test has historically run $170 plus tax, which works out to about $180.33 in Wake Forest, and that covers the technician's visit, the test itself and filing the passing result with Raleigh Water. We confirm the current price when you book, before anyone is scheduled. If the assembly fails and needs a repair or replacement, we quote that separately before any work starts.
It depends on what the assembly protects. A residential irrigation backflow assembly needs a passing test submitted by July 1st every three years. A commercial irrigation backflow has to be tested annually by July 1st. Every other assembly, including domestic and fire, is tested annually on a schedule Raleigh Water sets by zip code.
Yes, please plan to be there. The technician has to shut the water off to the assembly for part of the test, so we need access and we want someone on site when the water goes off and comes back on. The whole visit is under an hour, and the water is only off for a portion of that.
We submit the passing test to Raleigh Water through VEPO, their electronic reporting vendor, and we send you a copy of the test report for your own records. You do not have to file anything yourself.
It is. Wake Forest merged its water and sewer system with the City of Raleigh in July 2005, so Raleigh Water is the utility for Wake Forest addresses and runs the Cross-Connection Control Program that sent your letter. Text us a photo of the letter and we will work from the due date and assembly details on it.
Yes. The assembly has to be installed and under pressure to be tested, so put it back on before your appointment, or tell us when you book and the technician can reinstall it when he arrives. Plenty of Wake Forest homeowners pull theirs every fall, so this comes up often.
We will tell you what failed and quote the repair or replacement before doing anything. We repair and replace assemblies as well as test them, so it does not turn into a second contractor and a second trip. Raleigh Water requires the corrected assembly to be retested and submitted within 15 days.
No. We handle the backflow assembly and the water supply line feeding the system, including testing, repair and replacement. Sprinkler heads, zone valves and the irrigation controller are a landscaping or irrigation contractor's work, and we will say so rather than send a plumber who cannot help.
Historically $170 plus tax, under an hour on site, and the passing result filed with Raleigh Water for you.
White’s Plumbing & Electrical, LLC · 730 Park Ave, Youngsville, NC 27596 · (919) 435-0736
