Honu Backflow Testing LLC began the way many solid local businesses do—by seeing a clear need and stepping up. Drawing on years of plumbing experience on HawaiÊ»i Island, we set out to make backflow testing simple and dependable on the Big Island: certified testing done on time, reports aligned with County requirements, and a reminder system that keeps you compliant without the stress. No drama, no mystery fees—just clean water, clear paperwork, and neighbors serving neighbors.
Our Commitment
Honu Backflow Testing LLC is dedicated to providing certified residential and commercial backflow testing services with a strong emphasis on eco-friendliness. Our commitment to modern technology ensures seamless online reporting, scheduling, billing, and payment options for all our clients.
What is Backflow Testing?
Backflow testing is a safety check that makes sure water only flows one way—out to your faucets, not backwards into the drinking water supply. A certified tester connects a calibrated gauge to your backflow prevention assembly (RP, DC, PVB, or SVB) and verifies that each part performs correctly: check valves hold pressure, the relief valve opens at the right set point, and shutoff valves close tight. The result is a clear pass/fail report that confirms your system isn’t letting contaminants sneak into the potable line and helps you stay in compliance with local water rules (typically required annually). Simple, quick, and essential for keeping your water—and your neighbors’—safe.
Why do backflow devices exist?
Backflow devices exist because water systems aren’t perfect—and pressure doesn’t always behave. When a main breaks, firefighters open hydrants, pumps fail, or equipment on a property pushes pressure the wrong way, water can reverse direction. That “backsiphonage” or “backpressure” can pull or push pesticides, fertilizers, soaps, boiler water, or other contaminants from private plumbing back into the public drinking supply. Cities learned the hard way (yep, real contamination incidents) that one property’s plumbing can risk an entire neighborhood. Backflow prevention assemblies—RP, DC, PVB, SVB—were created to be the one-way bouncers at the door, stopping that reverse flow and protecting public health. Now they’re required by code anywhere a cross-connection could exist: irrigation, fire sprinklers, commercial kitchens, medical and industrial sites, and more.
History of Backflow Devices
If you’re tracing “who did it first,” the paper trail starts with an early U.S. patent in 1909 describing a device to stop wastewater from returning into a potable line—an ancestor to today’s vacuum breakers. Through the 1930s, Los Angeles engineers began installing the first purpose-built municipal backflow preventers—early pressure vacuum breaker (PVB) designs—followed soon by double-check assemblies as utilities learned how to control both backsiphonage and backpressure. The modern era really clicks into place in 1944, when USC’s Foundation for Cross-Connection Control was created to research hazards, standardize assemblies (RP, DC, PVB, SVB), and formalize testing practices that utilities still lean on today. Since then, code bodies and state agencies have codified cross-connection control programs, continuously refining installation and testing requirements—right up to recent statewide handbooks and updates—so a one-way device at each risk point keeps clean water clean.