State rules
Nebraska
Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services drinking-water rules, Title 179, require community and non-transient non-community public water systems to run an ongoing program to detect and eliminate cross-connections and prevent backflow. The program is subject to the Director’s review. Backflow protection devices equipped with test ports must be tested at least once each year by a Grade 6 certified water operator, or more often if the public water system requires it. Results are certified to the system no later than 30 calendar days after the test. The annual Grade 6 test rule does not apply to lawn sprinkling systems, except those with provision to inject toxic substances, including lawn chemicals.
Checked against official sources on October 11, 2026. Rules and links change; confirm with the office listed before you act.
- Drinking-water agency
- The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services sets the Title 179 cross-connection and Grade 6 testing requirement.
- Who may test an assembly
- Devices with test ports are tested at least annually by a Grade 6 certified water operator, except the lawn-sprinkling exclusion stated in the rule.
- Official program page
- Official page →
The rule says there shall be no unprotected physical connection between the public water system and pipes, pumps, hydrants, tanks, or other supplies whereby unsafe water or contaminating materials may be discharged or drawn into the system, unless the public water system and then the Director approve it first. The system must install, or require, properly located assemblies, devices, or methods appropriate to the hazards in the rule’s tables. Consumers must assess and report potential backflow hazards at least every five years and take steps the system reasonably requests. The system must keep records of locations, types, tests, and repairs for five years.
Assemblies must be installed as assemblies, with shutoff valves kept intact. Fire-protection backflow preventers are part of the fire system under the rule and must not be installed, moved, removed, replaced, shut off, or altered except in strict compliance with State Fire Marshal rules. The rule says backflow preventers it requires must have been tested and approved or listed by the USC Foundation for Cross-Connection Control and Hydraulic Research, the American National Standards Institute, or Underwriters Laboratories. Those are listing organizations for the device. The tester named in the annual-test sentence is a Grade 6 certified water operator, not a separate ASSE or ABPA license.
Title 179 defines backflow as the undesirable reversal of flow in a potable water distribution system as a result of a cross-connection, and it distinguishes protection by containment at the service line from protection by isolation inside a building. A customer should ask the public water system for its Grade 6 requirement and should not assume a private tester card replaces that operator grade. No test fee is stated in the sections used here. Local utilities such as Lincoln publish their own Grade VI registration; that is a city program built on the state rule, not a second state license.
Official resources in Nebraska
Contains the cross-connection program duty and the Grade 6 annual-test requirement.
Earlier pamphlet of the operation-and-maintenance chapter that includes the cross-connection section.
Federal context for state public-water-system programs.
Key facts for Nebraska
- Public water systems covered by the chapter must keep an ongoing cross-connection and backflow program subject to the Director’s review.
- Test-port devices are tested at least annually by a Grade 6 certified water operator.
- Results are certified to the public water system within 30 calendar days.
- The Grade 6 annual-test sentence does not apply to lawn sprinkling systems except those that can inject toxic substances, including lawn chemicals.
- Consumers report potential hazards at least every five years.
- Fire-system backflow preventers are altered only in compliance with State Fire Marshal rules.
What to do next
- Ask for the Grade 6 water-operator certification before a required annual test.
- Tell the system if irrigation can inject fertilizer or other chemicals, because that exception is narrow.
- Do not move a fire-line assembly without asking about State Fire Marshal rules.
- A city registration can be additional; it does not replace the Grade 6 sentence in Title 179.
Looking for your city or county in Nebraska?
We haven't found official program-level pages for Nebraska we can verify yet, so we don't show local numbers here rather than guess. Here's what to use instead, in order:
- General Start with the statewide information above. It applies across Nebraska, but cities and counties can add their own steps, fees or deadlines.
- Call to confirm Ask the official office. They have the current local rule, fee and form.Nebraska DHHS Title 179 public water systems
Website →Phone not shown: use the contact page on the official website above.Your city or county office: Local governments →Not sure who handles it locally? USAGov's free help line, 1-844-872-4681, or the Nebraska page on USA.gov can point you to the right office. - Know the current info? Tell us and include a link to the official page. We check every tip before it goes up.
Helpful guides
- What a backflow test is
- Who is allowed to test a backflow assembly
- Why utilities require annual backflow testing
- Tester and cross-connection specialist