When a backflow assembly in Castle Rock misses its testing deadline, Erin Sweeney posts a 72-hour disconnection notice on the door.

“I very sarcastically call them my love notes,” she says. “They tend to work magic, because once we hang those notes, people spring into action and they get it done.”

Erin is Castle Rock’s Cross-Connection Control Administrator, a position she’s held for over four years. She manages more than 3,100 assemblies as a team of one. “It’s just me, myself and I,” she says, handling everything from tester certifications to field surveys.

Castle Rock’s backflow compliance rate sits at 98.8 percent. “We just stick to our program,” she says. “We have a pretty tight program, and when we follow it, it works.”

Implementing a consistent enforcement process

Castle Rock’s backflow program follows a three-step escalation: reminder, second notice, disconnection. Erin applies it the same way every time.

Before assemblies are due, customers receive a reminder by mail or email. If there’s no passing test report by the first of the following month, a second notice goes out with a 14-day deadline. After that, Erin physically hangs the 72-hour disconnection “love notes” herself.

“Obviously nobody wants their water disconnected. Myself included. I don’t like doing that. But we’ll do it in order to protect the water supply,” she says.

In practice, disconnections are rare. When customers know what to expect and when to expect it, most follow through before it gets to that point.

Verifying what’s in the field

Erin reviews test reports as they come in, but she doesn’t rely on the system alone. “It’s really about knowing what’s in your system and not just going by what’s in the computer,” she says. “I like being on site.”

These “eyeball inspections” confirm the assembly matches what’s on record: the right type, size, serial number, and installation.

She gives new installations the same treatment as existing ones — she wants to know what’s actually out there.

Before heading to a site, she reviews any previous inspection records in SwiftComply along with her own photos so she knows exactly what she’s looking at. Reports and CSV file exports help her cross-check data and look for gaps.

“I like to have my thumb on everything,” she says. “Pulling a CSV from different areas in SwiftComply helps me do a cross check and get at the information I’m looking for. It helps me do the fine tuning that I want to do.”

Building strong ties with testers

“I’m not afraid to call the tester,” she says. “Nine times out of ten, I can just jump in the truck and go see what they’re looking at if there’s an issue.”

That might mean reviewing a test report together or standing in front of a device and talking through what’s required and why. When a tester pushes back on something, she takes it seriously. If what they’re saying makes sense, she’ll go do a survey to check.

“I appreciate my testers and what they’re seeing, their knowledge and experience,” she says. “So I really look to them to help me while they’re in the field.”

That respect goes both ways. When testers know what the program requires, the guesswork disappears.

“If they know what’s required from town code and our program, there’s no guessing what the expectations and requirements are,” she says.

When a new tester registers with Castle Rock, Erin sends what she calls “this enormous email” covering everything they need to stay compliant with town code. “Do they read it? I don’t know, but it’s good information for them to have,” she says.

That same approach extends to helping testers navigate SwiftComply. Erin became an expert in the platform so she can troubleshoot with them directly. “If I can’t fix it, then yeah, we’ll pull in SwiftComply,” she says. “But otherwise, let’s try that.”

Sticking to the process

For Erin, it all comes back to the same thing.

“Stick to the system, stick to your program,” she says. “If we stick to the program, there isn’t much room for error.”

That consistency has led to one of the highest compliance rates among SwiftComply customers.

Erin’s already thinking about what’s next.

“I’m really working hard on getting back through to complete all of the surveys, whether I’ve done them before or not,” she says. “I just want to make sure I know what’s out there.”