Selling a Riverton Home With Secondary Water: Key Checks

On May 19, 2026, Riverton City issued a boil water order for the area from 3200 West to the city's east border. The cause wasn't a main break or a treatment failure. During a routine inspection, city staff found an illegal cross-connection on a property's sprinkler system, where culinary drinking water and secondary irrigation water had been joined, letting irrigation water flow back into the drinking water. The connection was found and disconnected, and on May 21 the city lifted the order after all required tests came back negative for bacteria, including E. coli. The city said it would increase bacterial and chlorine sampling in the area.

The episode was resolved quickly. For a homeowner, though, it's a useful reminder: in Riverton, how a house is plumbed for outdoor water is worth checking before a sale, alongside the more familiar inspection items.

Riverton's Secondary Water System

Riverton's secondary system is substantial. In her April 2026 message, Mayor Tish Buroker described it as 182 miles of pressurized irrigation pipe, 2,581 valves, three reservoirs and water shares in the Jordan River, built in the early 2000s. Water arrives through canals, the Jordan River and a well. The canal companies decide when to start filling the canals each spring, independently of the city. In 2026, the mayor expected water to reach residents around May 5.

That seasonality matters when you sell. An irrigation system can be run and observed during the season, but not easily once it's been shut off for the winter.

How a Riverton Yard Can Be Connected

The city's backflow page is worth reading before you list a home with an established yard. It describes two approved irrigation connections:

• Secondary only. The culinary stop-and-waste valve to the outdoor system is removed (indoors, the shutoff is removed, the pipe cut flush with the wall and the outside line capped), and every hose outlet must have an anti-siphon valve, which is part of the city's inspection.
• Dual system. Both culinary and secondary water reach the yard. This requires a Reduced Pressure Zone (RPZ) backflow assembly at the culinary connection, plus a swing joint that allows only one system to be used at a time, never both.

Under Riverton City Code 13.10.350, backflow prevention assemblies must be tested at installation, repair or relocation, and annually after that, by a certified backflow tester, with reports emailed to [email protected].

The city also says it randomly assesses residential sprinkler systems for compliance. If your home has a dual system, it's sensible to have a current annual test report on hand before you list. If the last one is more than a year old, schedule a test with a certified tester from the city's list.

Water Rights and Water Company Shares

Some Riverton properties also have water associated with them, and Utah Code 73-1-10 distinguishes two kinds. A water right, such as one evidenced by a decree or a certificate of appropriation, is transferred by deed in substantially the same manner as real estate, and the deed is recorded with the county recorder. The right to use water evidenced by shares of stock in a corporation, such as a water or irrigation company, is transferred under the procedures for securities in Utah's Uniform Commercial Code. The statute also provides that a water right owner updates the state engineer's records by submitting a report of water right conveyance.

Buyers and sellers should confirm the specifics for a particular property with their title company or a water-rights attorney.

A Short Pre-Listing Water Check

• Confirm who supplies the property's secondary water and that the account is current.
• If you have a dual system, find the last annual RPZ test report and confirm it was done by a certified tester.
• Check that every hose outlet has a working anti-siphon valve.
• Make sure there's no cross-connection between culinary and irrigation lines, and that a swing joint is in place on a dual system.
• If water rights or water company shares are associated with the property, gather the current documentation and confirm the specifics with your title company or a water-rights attorney.
• Note the irrigation season on your disclosures, since buyers touring before the canals fill can't see the system run.

A listing that answers these questions at the start rarely has to answer them under deadline during the inspection period.

A Few Direct Questions

My home was built in 2019 and the backflow assembly has never been tested. Is that a problem? The annual testing requirement applies to the assembly regardless of the home's age. If you can't find a report from the past year, schedule a test before you list.

The previous owner said the water shares came with the house. Should I verify? Yes. Utah Code 73-1-10 treats water rights and water company shares differently, so confirm the specifics with your title company or a water-rights attorney.

If you're preparing to sell a Riverton home and would like to go through the water questions before you list, I'm glad to help. You can find me at kingswellestates.com.

Vir Singh · Kingswell Estates

The Perry Group · Real Broker, LLC

Photograph: Kitchen with a stone island and brass fixtures, by Curtis Adams, Pexels License, via Pexels (cropped to 16:9).