ST. MARTIN PARISH — The clock is ticking for some business owners in Parks, Louisiana, who are facing the possibility of losing their water service. The issue stems from the installation of a crucial piece of equipment that could have significant implications for the entire community. According to Mayor Kevin Kately, businesses that fail to install this equipment could find their water shut off entirely.
"You have to have it, it's not something that Kevin Katley made up, not nothing that the village of Parks made up, it's the plumbing code rules," Kately said, emphasizing the importance of complying with local and state regulations.
The requirement in question pertains to the installation of backflow preventers, which must be placed on water meters for commercial service, as well as for residential commercial lawn sprinklers or irrigation services in Louisiana. According to Kately, these backflow preventers are essential to maintaining the safety and integrity of the community’s water system. "A backflow preventer is basically like a flap, where your water will go in but nothing can come back out."
The backflow preventers are used primarily by businesses such as restaurants and hair salons to control water flow and ensure that contaminated water doesn't flow back into the system. One local business owner, D.J. Peltier, owner of Qwik Stop Café, shared his experience with installing the equipment. " I received a letter from the mayor. Once I saw the importance of it, I said yes, I definitely wanna get this installed in my establishment. It cost me $1,500 to get installed, definitely worth every penny of it being that I’m serving the public. I just wanna make sure everything is safe."
Despite some businesses taking action, Kately say that the village has faced issues with the state due to businesses failing to install the equipment. These businesses were sent letters nearly two years ago, but many have not complied.
"It became an issue when they started grading our water system," Kately explained. "We wanna just make sure that the people put it in, also we have to look at it as a water system, make sure that we’re giving the people safe and not contaminated water."
He acknowledged that the issue wasn’t a major concern in the past, but the situation has changed with the state's increased focus on water safety. "Five, ten, fifteen years ago it probably wasn’t a big issue, but now they grade your water system and then if you don’t have it, that could be 10 points that they’re taking away from 100 points," Kately explained.
According to Kately, businesses that fail to install the backflow preventers could face a serious consequence: losing their water service altogether. "We wanna work with them, we don’t want anybody’s service cut off, we wanna try to work with them to understand and let them know how important it is to have this installed."
Notice letters are expected to be mailed as early as this month to the businesses that still need to complete the installation.
As the deadline for compliance draws near, business owners in Parks are urged to act quickly to avoid losing access to a crucial resource.
