A cross connection control program lives or dies on paperwork. Not on the backflow assemblies themselves, which mostly sit and work, but on the records that prove every assembly exists, was tested this year, passed, and belongs to a customer who was notified on time. When a state inspector arrives, that paper trail is the program.
Cross connection control software is meant to hold that trail together. This guide covers what it needs to do, why the job is a records problem more than a plumbing one, and how a water system can run the program on tools it may already own.
What is cross connection control software?
Cross connection control software is a system that helps a water purveyor manage its backflow prevention program, tracking every backflow assembly, its test history, the certified testers, customer notifications and the compliance reporting a state or primacy agency requires.
A working program has to keep several moving parts in sync:
- An inventory of every backflow assembly and the hazard it protects against
- An annual test cycle with due dates and results
- A roster of certified testers and their credentials
- Customer notifications, reminders and overdue notices
- Compliance reporting to the state or primacy agency
The program is a records problem, not a plumbing problem
The engineering of backflow prevention is well understood. The failure mode of a cross connection control program is almost never the device. It is losing track of the paperwork around thousands of them.
Consider what a mid-sized water system is managing: several thousand assemblies, each needing an annual test, each tied to a customer, each tested by one of dozens of independent certified testers who submit results in whatever format they like. Miss a batch of due dates and you have a compliance gap. Lose a tester’s certification lapse and you have accepted invalid tests. Fail to send the overdue notices and you cannot enforce. None of that is a plumbing failure. It is a tracking failure, and it is exactly what software should prevent.
This is the same shape of problem as industrial pretreatment, where the compliance risk is disconnection rather than data loss. The programs are different, but the discipline is identical, which is why the systems that manage them look alike.
Where cross connection control software can live
Here is what the niche vendors do not mention: the core of a cross connection control program is a structured database, a scheduling engine, a notification workflow and a reporting layer, and a water utility running Microsoft 365 already licenses all four.
SharePoint or Dataverse can hold the assembly inventory and test history with a real hierarchy by site and hazard. Power Automate can run the annual test cycle, sending reminders as due dates approach and overdue notices when they pass, and flag any test submitted by a tester whose certification has lapsed. Power BI can produce the compliance report the state wants and the internal dashboard that shows how many assemblies are current.
On licensing, to be precise: E1, E3 and E5 include seeded rights to build Power Apps and Power Automate over Microsoft 365 data such as SharePoint (Microsoft Power Platform Licensing Guide, August 2026), and E5 includes Power BI. A larger build using Dataverse adds a Power Apps Premium cost, still below a per-assembly or per-connection subscription for a niche product. The point is that the program can run on infrastructure you already control, with the data in your own tenant.
COMPLIANCE ON MICROSOFT 365
Want your backflow program off spreadsheets and onto tools you own?
Nexinite builds assembly tracking, test scheduling, notifications and state reporting into the Microsoft 365 your utility already runs, in your own tenant. No niche subscription, and no forever licensing.
Buy or build: how the options compare
A rough map for a water system weighing a niche product against building on what it owns.
| Need | Niche backflow product | Built on Microsoft 365 you own |
|---|---|---|
| Assembly inventory | Built in | SharePoint or Dataverse |
| Test scheduling and reminders | Built in | Power Automate |
| Tester submissions | Often a tester portal | A form or portal, more setup |
| State compliance reporting | Prebuilt templates sometimes | Power BI, built to your state |
| Where the data lives | Vendor environment | Your own tenant |
| Ongoing cost | Per-assembly or per-connection | Build cost, then support on owned licences |
The row worth weighing hardest is tester submissions. A niche product often ships a tester portal that lets independent testers submit results directly, and matching that takes real setup. If your program leans heavily on many outside testers, that convenience can justify the product. If most testing is in-house or through a few contractors, building on what you own is usually the better value.
When a niche product is the right call
Buying makes sense in specific cases: when you need a polished self-service portal for many independent testers on day one, when your state mandates an exact submission format the vendor already supports, or when you have no internal capacity to own a build. Short of those, the program is well within reach of the Microsoft tools most utilities already pay for.
How this approach proves out
The clearest proof of building compliance systems on Microsoft 365 comes from the utility side. Silicon Valley Clean Water had asset and operations data scattered across financial systems, project tools and SCADA. Nexinite built its equipment and asset management on the Microsoft stack SVCW already licensed, and according to the published case study the result was a 40% reduction in unplanned maintenance and an estimated 20% saving in operational costs. The detail is in the SVCW case study. A cross connection control program is a smaller, similar build: a tracked inventory, a schedule, and reporting, on a tenant you own. The same logic runs through our guide to utility asset management software.
Frequently asked questions
What is cross connection control software?
It is a system for managing a water purveyor’s backflow prevention program. It tracks every backflow assembly and the hazard it guards against, the annual test cycle and results, certified testers, customer notifications, and the compliance reporting the state or primacy agency requires. The goal is a complete, current, defensible record of the whole program.
Is cross connection control the same as pretreatment?
No. Cross connection control protects the potable distribution system from backflow contamination. Pretreatment regulates what industrial users discharge into the sewer. They are different programs run by different staff, though both are records-heavy compliance efforts.
Can we run a cross connection control program on Microsoft 365?
Yes. The program is a database, a scheduler, a notification workflow and a report, all of which Microsoft 365 supports. SharePoint or Dataverse holds the assemblies, Power Automate runs the test cycle and notices, and Power BI produces the state report. Most of this uses licences a utility already holds (Microsoft Power Platform Licensing Guide, August 2026), with Dataverse the main paid add-on for a larger build.
What happens if we miss backflow test deadlines?
Missed deadlines create a compliance gap with your state or primacy agency and, more importantly, leave potential contamination pathways unverified. This is exactly why automated reminders and overdue notices matter more than any other feature: the risk is losing track of due dates at scale, not the devices themselves.
Where to start
Get the assembly inventory and the test cycle into one system that sends its own reminders. That single change closes the most common compliance gap, and for most utilities it can be built on tools already owned before any niche subscription is considered.