TL;DR
A cross connection is any physical link through which contaminated water or chemicals could flow backward into the potable supply, a garden hose submerged in a pool, an irrigation line teed off house plumbing, a boiler feed without protection. Plumbing codes break these with air gaps and backflow preventers matched to the hazard level, from hose-bib vacuum breakers to testable reduced-pressure assemblies.
What it means
A cross connection is any physical link through which contaminated water or chemicals could flow backward into the potable supply, a garden hose submerged in a pool, an irrigation line teed off house plumbing, a boiler feed without protection. Plumbing codes break these with air gaps and backflow preventers matched to the hazard level, from hose-bib vacuum breakers to testable reduced-pressure assemblies. Many water utilities require annual certified testing of backflow devices on irrigation systems, the postcard homeowners get every spring.
Where it sits in the glossary
Cross connection is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
ProFix tools that touch this term
See also
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