Rainbow Water advises ratepayers to watch for thieves trying to steal backflow devices

Rainbow Municipal Water District (RMWD) released a statement today advising district ratepayers that an increase in the theft of backflow devices has been experienced.

RMWD general manager Dave Seymour said, "Over the past few months, there has been an increase in the number of backflow device thefts in the Rainbow Municipal Water District, resulting in considerable expense to water customers."

Seymour said that during the week of January 21, three more devices were stolen; two in the Gopher Canyon area and one along Rice Canyon.

"Thieves usually take the devices and try and sell the copper and bronze—all for only a few dollars as scrap metal," explained Seymour.

According to RMWD superintendent John Maccarrone, the recent method of theft is "for the crooks to hook a chain up to the device and pull it out with a vehicle, sometimes pulling out the service line and water meter along with the backflow device."

Seymour said if ratepayers see any unusual activity near their water meter or backflow device, they should contact local law enforcement right away.

"RMWD employees and contractors always have proper identification," he added.