The City of Virginia Beach Public Utilities Department considers residential irrigation systems to be high hazards that need to be regulated in order to protect the drinking water system. These systems which likely aren't complex can have severe and even deadly contaminants enter the water system (i.e. animal urine and feces, pesticides and other chemicals). These systems must have backflow prevention devices that are tested annually and are tracked through the municipality. In a city with over 450,000 people, a public outreach program will be extremely difficult and costly but more importantly it will not be sufficient enough to protect the drinking water system. The regulations need to state that residential irrigation systems are high hazards that need to have their backflow devices tested annually and submitted to the municipality for tracking. It is all of our responsibility to protect the drinking water system which includes protection from all irrigation systems.