When Nicholas (Nick) Lopez joined the City of Anaheim in early 2025, he knew the backflow program would be larger than the one he managed in Burbank.

Nearly 12,000 backflow prevention devices across more than 64,000 service connections, roughly three times the size of the program he’d just left.

In Burbank, he’d managed 2,800 devices focused mainly on meter protection. In Anaheim, the scope would include both meter protection and internal isolation assembly coverage across the city.

He also stepped in at a pivotal moment. Anaheim had recently migrated from its legacy system to SwiftComply, but Nick hadn’t been part of that transition. Over the previous few years, the program had experienced staffing turnover, and processes had evolved through multiple systems and personnel transitions.

Nick was hired to bring continuity, structure, and forward momentum to a rapidly growing program, and he’d be doing it as a team of one.

“Challenging. Very challenging,” he said, looking back at those early days.

Establishing clarity and structure

Nick brought fresh eyes to a program that had been through significant change. Anaheim had migrated to SwiftComply before he started, and as he dug into the system, he began identifying ways to structure the data for a program managing nearly 12,000 devices.

One priority: building organizational hierarchies that would improve efficiency and communication. Grouping multiple locations under a single corporate or HOA contact, for example, would allow a chain with several Anaheim locations to receive consolidated notifications. He began working closely with the SwiftComply team to implement these structures.

As he worked through the data, some gaps surfaced. Test notifications that should have gone to corporate or HOA contacts were sometimes still tied to individual service addresses. Contact records needed updating. Some notification cycles that had been paused during earlier staffing changes needed to be restarted.

Nick’s approach was simple: fix issues on the spot, set realistic timelines, and keep customers informed.

He was managing inspections, tenant improvements, and compliance reporting while simultaneously working with SwiftComply and his internal partners to rebuild a clean, scalable data foundation for the program.

Building the support system

From the start, Nick worked closely with SwiftComply’s account management and support teams. The responsiveness stood out immediately compared to previous vendors. When he flagged an issue or needed help, responses came quickly, and as California’s new backflow handbook requirements rolled out, he could see the platform evolving to support them.

“It’s not a one-and-done program. It’s always evolving,” he said. “And when I reach out, I get responses fast. That makes a huge difference.”

Together with SwiftComply and his consulting team, Nick developed a formal data cleanup project: modernize contact structures, align account numbers with the city’s billing system, and set the groundwork for automated data syncing. A new part-time data analyst joined to help with the work, and the project moved through internal approvals.

For Nick, though, the foundation of the program wasn’t just data and software. It was people. Specifically, his testers.

He made a point of visiting them on job sites, sometimes grabbing lunch, building rapport the same way he had in Burbank.

“A lot of them have been in this industry longer than I have,” he said. “I learn from them.”

That trust went both ways. When testers knew Nick had their back, responding quickly to requests, being transparent about program changes, they submitted reports faster and flagged issues early. The relationship wasn’t transactional; it was collaborative. And at Anaheim’s scale, with one person formally running the program, that kind of trust was operationally essential.

“My testers are my eyes and ears in the field,” he said. “If I take care of them, they take care of the city.”

Planning for the long term

Today, the program has clear structure and forward momentum.

Data cleanup is underway. Contact records are being updated systematically, and the modernization project with SwiftComply is in final approvals. The new part-time data analyst is already analyzing the data and helping prioritize what needs attention next. Notification cycles are running consistently, and when issues come up, they’re resolved quickly rather than sitting in a backlog.

“I can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Nick said.

The program is now positioned to handle California’s evolving compliance requirements. Nick and his partners have built the operational foundation needed to manage nearly 12,000 devices with confidence.

When asked what advice he’d give someone stepping into a similar situation, Nick kept coming back to relationships.

“Trust your team. Don’t try to do it alone,” he said. “Build relationships with your testers, be transparent with your customers, and stay humble. A lot of people in this industry know more than you do. Learn from them. If you have the right support and the right partners, you’ll get there.”