MANATEE -- About 18 months ago a run of thefts on backflow preventers had the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office handing out advice to homeowners on how to protect them.
Then, almost as quickly as the thefts started, they dwindled, said Randy Warren a sheriff’s office spokesman.
Now, it appears, the theft of these scrap metal-rich devices, required by modern building codes to prevent sewage or waste water from backing up from homes and businesses into county and city waterlines, may be back again.
On Tuesday, three victims who live in the ironically named Copperfield subdivision in the 3800 block of 78th Avenue Circle East and the 7800 block of 38th Court East had their backflow preventers stolen, either for the copper and brass inside them or, perhaps, to be resold, Warren said.
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Also, either late Monday or early Tuesday, five backflow preventers were stolen from a shopping plaza at 11535 Palmbrush Trail in Lakewood Ranch, impacting the AAA office, Luxury Nail and Spa and UPS, according to a sheriff’s office report.
Backflow preventers are attractive to thieves because they usually are unprotected, outside, at the street, near the water meter. Secondly, they can be sold either for the metal inside them or to be reused, Warren said.
Best Metal knows better
Best Metal, a scrap metal company located in the 2600 block of 29th Street East, Ellenton, gets visits from people wanting to sell used backflow preventers, but usually says ‘No,’” said owner Marty Durrance Tuesday.
“A guy shouldn’t come walking in with 10 backflow preventers and all of them cut off from a pipe with a hacksaw,” Durrance said. “That’s pretty obvious something isn’t right. The only way I take them is from a licensed plumber who may be discarding them after replacement.”
With economic times being what they are, “scrapping,” or hunting down objects containing steel, copper, brass, aluminium and other metals for their scrap value, has become widespread.
“It’s not so much that we are doing that much better now, but we are seeing scrappers we never saw before,” Durrance said.
A backflow preventer, which can be protected with a cage and some welds, contains anywhere from seven to 10 pounds of brass, including brass valves, said Bob Fresard, a plumber with Swift Plumbers, which serves the area.
“We’re getting $1.50 a pound for yellow brass right now which means about $15 for one backflow preventer,” Durrance said. “But they don’t just get one or two. They try to get as many as they can.”
Backflow preventers also hold some copper, which was going for about $2.75 a pound on Tuesday.
Although backflow preventers don’t contain steel or aluminum, thieves know steel is going for $10.75 for 100 pounds and aluminum is 24 to 54 cents per pound, Durrance said.
Richard Dymond, Herald reporter, can be reached at 748-0411, ext. 6686.
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