Make Any Aluminum Backflow Preventer Enclosure Blend In

Above-ground, outdoor installation is the only code-compliant option for most backflow preventer assemblies and for good reason.

• Underground vaults flood, create cross-connection risks and require OSHA-classified confined space entry for routine maintenance.
• Indoor installation puts your building at serious flood risk when an RPZ assembly does its job and dumps water.

So your enclosure is important, but now you want to make it less noticeable on your property.

The good news: engineers and building owners have been solving this problem for decades. The same design strategies used to make electrical transformers and dumpsters discreet work just as well for aluminum backflow enclosures.

This guide covers five proven approaches — location, footprint, landscaping, color and vinyl wraps — and addresses real objections property owners, architects and designers raise about above-ground enclosures every day.

"Can't we just put it underground?" is the first question most building owners ask. For reduced pressure zone (RPZ) assemblies, the answer is a resounding no. Every manufacturer of ASSE-approved RPZs in the U.S. prohibits below-grade installation. RPZs are designed to discharge water when check valves fail, and that discharge has nowhere to go in a vault.

"What about inside the building?" That option trades one problem for a worse one. A 3-inch RPZ can discharge water at a rate that overwhelms any standard floor drain. Case studies from commercial buildings show that indoor RPZ failures have caused catastrophic flooding at costs far exceeding the price of an outdoor enclosure.

"We've always done it this way” is the most common reason outdated methods persist. While it may be difficult to change course, Las Vegas found it could save up to $60,000 per installation by switching from underground vaults to above-ground aluminum enclosures. This proves the change is worth it. Cities like Portland, Arlington, the state of New Jersey and dozens of other water jurisdictions have since updated their standard details to require above-ground enclosures entirely.

"The enclosure is going to sit right in front of our building."

This is the most common aesthetic objection and the most preventable one, because it's almost always a consequence of where the water tap was placed, not where it had to be.

Historically, civil engineers place the water tap as close as possible to a property's planned driveway location. With an above-ground enclosure in the picture, that default decision plants a large box at the most visible point on the property. It doesn't have to work this way!

The property line doesn't exist only at the front entrance or along a roadway. Backflow preventers can be installed behind or beside buildings, out of public view, and still comply with American Water Works Association (AWWA) recommended best practices.

DESIGN TIP
For optimal placement, position the backflow assembly near a zoning setback. This typically moves it out of the main sightline without adding significant pipe or excavation cost.

When front-of-building installation is unavoidable, placement still matters. An enclosure set against the property line, away from the street and behind a row of hedges reads very differently than one sitting at the entrance between the parking lot and the front door.

Think about where the electrical transformer on your property is located. Chances are someone thought about that placement. The same thinking applies here.

"The enclosure is just too big."

This complaint was more valid a decade ago. It's much less true today.

Older backflow preventers — 3 inches and larger — were bulky and long. Newer N-type (or "N-pattern") backflow preventer designs changed that.

N-type assemblies are significantly more compact, and the enclosures built around them reflect that. A six-inch N-type assembly has a lay length roughly 25 percent shorter than a traditional straight-line model, and in some cases the enclosure footprint is reduced by as much as 70 percent compared to predecessors.

Both designs provide the same level of backflow protection. The package — device plus enclosure — is roughly the same price.

"We didn't plan for this in the landscaping design."

Walk most new construction projects and you'll see this clearly. The building entrance gets deliberate landscaping while the parking lot islands get shrubs. The dumpster even gets a fence or a hedge row.

Meanwhile, the backflow enclosure gets nothing, left exposed because it was an afterthought in design.

Landscaping is one of the most effective and lowest-cost ways to make an enclosure disappear from view. It can be incorporated during initial site design or added after installation, making it practical even when the enclosure is already in place.

DESIGN TIP 
Strategic plantings — a hedge row, a dense shrub border or tall ornamental grasses — can render even a large enclosure effectively invisible from the street.

"We need it to match the building" or "Our HOA requires a specific color."

Both of these are solvable problems, and most designers don't realize how many color options are available at little or no additional cost.

On many commercial properties, the electrical transformer is green. It blends into the surrounding landscape so effectively that most people don't notice it. The same approach works for backflow enclosures. Safe-T-Cover's standard enclosures are available in Hartford Green, Sierra Tan, Military Brown and Brushed Aluminum at the base price. Custom colors are available for a nominal additional fee.

"Is there a way to make the enclosure look like it belongs there, or even like it's supposed to be there?"

Yes! This is where vinyl wraps come in. The same technology used on branded service vehicles and architectural surfaces has found its way into the waterworks industry.

A wrapped enclosure no longer reads as a utility box. It reads as a branded surface, a mural, a brick wall, a bookshelf — whatever the designer specifies.

• Food service businesses have wrapped enclosures to look like branded signage.
• Commercial properties have matched brick facades.
• Municipalities have commissioned local artists to wrap utility enclosures as public art installations.

"Can we just use a fake rock?"

For residential applications with small backflow preventers — two inches or smaller — decorative rock enclosures provide basic concealment. For anything larger, they're not a viable option. Here’s why they’re not recommended.

The interior dimensions of fake rock enclosures taper, meaning the device often doesn't fit even when the listed size looks sufficient. Plus, they don't lock, leaving the backflow prone to theft, and they provide no freeze protection.

"We're using a backflow cage."

Cages were a widespread response to backflow preventer theft during the 2008 recession, when copper, brass and stainless steel prices made unprotected assemblies prime theft targets. The economics that made cages attractive have since shifted.

ASSE 1060-compliant aluminum enclosures are now cost-competitive with steel cages on an upfront basis, and they outperform cages decisively when lifecycle cost is considered. A cage doesn't conceal the assembly — it frames it, advertising the presence of high-value metal to anyone who looks. An enclosed aluminum enclosure conceals the contents entirely and provides freeze protection, which a cage never will.

Marine-grade aluminum, typically 5052-H32 alloy, offers better corrosion resistance and longevity compared to standard steel cages. Enclosures can last 30 years or more due to that durability.

"The enclosure costs too much."

When comparing the upfront cost of an aluminum enclosure against either doing nothing, using a cage or continuing to specify vaults, none are fair comparisons when lifecycle cost is included. Over a 30-year service life, the alternatives won’t save you money.

For example, a single frozen and cracked RPZ assembly can easily cost more to replace than the enclosure that would have prevented the failure.

It gets worse with vaults. Vault installations require extensive excavation and concrete construction; above-ground enclosures require only a concrete pad..

Vault maintenance requires OSHA-compliant confined space entry procedures — three people, a lift, a harness and atmospheric monitoring — every time someone tests the assembly. An above-ground enclosure is a walk-up testing procedure.

The five design considerations in this guide — location, footprint, landscaping, color and wraps — can be used together to get the enclosure design you want.

For example: An N-type assembly in a Slate Grey enclosure, positioned at a side setback behind a low hedge row, is not an eyesore. It's infrastructure that's been thought about, the same way electrical transformers and dumpsters get thought about on every well-designed commercial property.

The building owners, architects and engineers who have used above-ground aluminum enclosures long enough don't think of them as aesthetic problems anymore. They spec the enclosure location the same way they spec the transformer location: early, deliberately and with the finished site in mind.

For properties where the enclosure is already in place and the concern is what to do now, landscaping and vinyl wraps both work after installation. The makes the aesthetic problem solvable at any stage of the project.

Browse Safe-T-Cover's full enclosure line, or reach out to us for sizing, color options and specification help for any project type.