Is backflow prevention necessary to prevent stagnant water in residential fire sprinklers from contaminating municipal supplies? The current risk of death or injury from fire is 11.1 times higher than the current risk of waterborne illness. An analysis was conducted to determine the possible overall public health effect if residential fire sprinklers are connected to municipal water supply systems. Risk‐versus‐benefit calculations associated with the installation of residential fire sprinkler systems with and without various levels of backflow prevention are presented. The degree of risk for waterborne illness would remain essentially unchanged from current conditions if residential sprinkler systems were installed with a simple check valve device, and the relative degree of risk from fire would be reduced from 11.1 to 5.8.

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