Partners In Energy was contacted early in the morning in regards to a catastrophic failure of a 1.5 inch backflow assembly at the New Orleans VA Medical Center.  The assembly was attached to a hot water line, and the metal had split at the inlet shut-off valve. This caused pressurized water to pour out of the pipe and find its way down four floors. PIE immediately responded to the emergency, first ensuring the water had been cut-off. We then contacted our closest contract partner to the event, Robert Sigsworth of Backflow man LLC, to drop everything and handle the situation. PIE’s resource was able to secure the correct replacement component and correct the situation within a matter of hours.  Upon closer inspection, it appears the cause of the catastrophic failure was an inappropriate installation of the assembly which caused excessive pressure on the housing of the assembly. This was due to the assembly being screwed in all the way to the seat of the threads and then further tightened.  This assembly had functioned properly for several years and had been inspected the day before it erupted.  This event demonstrates PIE’s commitment to our customers to handle all issues that arise during the performance of our contracts.