Virginia Administrative Code › Title 12 - HEALTH › Agency 5 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › Chapter 610 - SEWAGE HANDLING AND DISPOSAL REGULATIONS › Part I - General Framework for Regulations › Article 2 - Definitions › Section 12VAC5-610-120 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms when used in this chapter
						shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
						otherwise:
"Agent" means a legally authorized representative of the
						owner.
"Alluvial soil" means a soil developing from recently
						deposited alluvium and exhibiting essentially no horizon development or
						modification of the recently deposited materials.
"Alluvium" means mineral materials, either weathered or
						unweathered, that are transported by flowing water and deposited or redeposited
						in a flood-plain or marine terrace.
"Aquifer" means water-bearing portion of a geologic
						formation that transmits water.
"Biochemical oxygen demand, five-day" or
						"BOD5" means the quantitative measure of the amount of
						oxygen consumed by bacteria while stabilizing, digesting, or treating
						biodegradable organic matter under aerobic conditions over a five-day
						incubation period; BOD5 is expressed in milligrams per
						liter (mg/l).
"Certification letter" means a letter issued by the
						commissioner, in lieu of a construction permit, that identifies a specific site
						and recognizes the appropriateness of the site for an onsite wastewater
						disposal system.
"Colluvial soil" means a soil developing from recently
						deposited colluvium and exhibiting essentially no horizon development or
						modification of the recently deposited materials.
"Colluvium" means an accumulation of soil material, or a
						mixture of stone fragments and soil material, deposited at the base of slopes
						or in depressional areas, primarily by gravity.
"Commissioner" means the State Health Commissioner or his
						subordinate who has been delegated powers in accordance with subdivision 2 of
						12VAC5-610-40.
"Cr horizon" means weathered or soft bedrock and is used
						to indicate root restrictive layers or bedrock or saprolite.
"Dilution area" means the land immediately adjacent to
						and down gradient, in the direction of ground water flow, from a mass sewage
						disposal system, that is provided for the purpose of diluting nitrogen, or
						other nutrients occurring in wastewater, with ambient ground water, in order to
						assure compliance with nutrient standards contained in this chapter.
"District health department" means a consolidation of
						local health departments as authorized in § 32.1-31 C of the Code of
						Virginia.
"Division" means the Division of Onsite Sewage and Water
						Services, Office of Environmental Health Services, State Health Department, or
						its administrative successor.
"Existing construction" (with failing sewage disposal
						systems) means an existing structure where the sewage disposal system serving
						the structure has failed or is currently in violation of state law or
						regulations and requires correction.
"General approval" means approval granted to systems that
						are proven and tested in accordance with Article 2 (12VAC5-610-441
						et seq.) of Part II of this chapter.
"Grandfathered lot" means:
1. Any lot upon which no permit has been issued and which
						is in a subdivision approved by the department prior to July 1, 2000, in
						accordance with a local subdivision ordinance. Individual lots may or may not
						have been evaluated; or
2. Any lot, parcel, or portion thereof with a previously
						issued permit or a specific written approval (not including a certification
						letter) from the department.
"Gray color" means a chroma-2 or less on the Munsell
						Color Chart.
"Impervious strata" means soil or soil materials with an
						estimated or measured percolation rate in excess of 120 minutes per
						inch.
"Infiltrative surface" means the designated interface
						where effluent moves from distribution piping, media, and fill to natural
						soil.
"Local health department" means a branch of the State
						Health Department established in each city and county in accordance with §
						32.1-30 of the Code of Virginia.
"Mass sewage disposal system" means a sewage disposal
						system or systems that will discharge effluent to a single absorption area or
						multiple absorption areas with or without combined flows, such that the loading
						rate applied to any acre, as determined by the department, exceeds 1,200
						gallons per day.
"Mineral soil" means a soil consisting predominantly of,
						and having its properties determined predominantly by, mineral matter. A
						mineral soil usually contains less than 20% organic matter, but it may contain
						an organic surface layer up to 12 inches thick.
"New construction" means construction of a building for
						which a building permit is required.
"Office" means the Office of Environmental Health
						Services, State Health Department.
"Owner" means the Commonwealth or any of its political
						subdivisions, including sanitary districts, sanitation district commissions and
						authorities, any individual, any group of individuals acting individually or as
						a group, or any public or private institution, corporation, company,
						partnership, firm, or association which owns or proposes to own a sewerage
						system or treatment works.
"Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership,
						association, or any other legal entity.
"Previously issued permit" means any permit issued prior
						to July 1, 2000, and in accordance with the regulations in effect at the time
						the permit was issued. There is no distinction between an expired permit and
						one that has been continually renewed.
"Pump and haul" means any unusual circumstance wherein
						sewage is permitted to be transported by vehicle to a point of disposal. The
						term "pump and haul" includes all facilities and appurtenances necessary to
						collect and store the sewage for handling by a contractor having a valid sewage
						handling permit.
"Rock" or "bedrock" means continuous, coherent,
						lithologic material that has relative hardness depending on the degree of
						weathering. Bedrock has characteristics such as strike, dip, jointing, and
						lithological compositions. Structure and water movement are rock controlled.
						Bedrock grinds with an auger, and mechanical penetration is more difficult or
						prevented as the material gets harder.
"Saprolite" means material weathered from igneous or
						metamorphic rock, without soil structure, and with remnant structure and fabric
						of the parent rock which is soft in place and can be penetrated easily with an
						auger.
"Secondary effluent" means effluent treated to reduce
						five-day biochemical oxygen demand to 30 mg/l or less, total suspended solids
						to 30 mg/l or less, and fats, oils, and grease to less than 5 mg/l.
"Septic tank effluent" means effluent characterized by a
						five-day biochemical oxygen demand between 120 and 200 mg/l; total suspended
						solids between 70 and 150 mg/l; fats, oils, and grease of 30 mg/l or less; and
						having no other toxic, hazardous, or constituents not routinely found in
						residential wastewater flows.
"Septage" means the mat of grease and scum on the surface
						of septic tanks, the accumulated sludge at the bottom of tanks and the sewage
						present at the time of pumping.
"Sewage" means water-carried and nonwater-carried human
						excrement, kitchen, laundry, shower, bath, or lavatory wastes separately or
						together with such underground, surface, storm, or other water and liquid
						industrial wastes as may be present from residences, buildings, vehicles,
						industrial establishments, or other places.
"Sewage disposal system" means a sewerage system or
						treatment works designed not to result in a point source discharge.
"Sewage handler" means any person who removes or
						contracts to remove and transports by vehicle the contents of any septic tank,
						sewage treatment plant, privy, holding tank, portable toilet, or any sewage,
						septage, or sewage sludges that have been processed to meet acceptable
						treatment standards as defined in this chapter or the Sewage Regulations
						(12VAC5-580-10 et seq.).
"Sewage handling" means the vehicular conveyance of
						sewage (See "Transportation" in § 32.1-163 of the Code of
						Virginia).
"Sewerage system" means pipe lines or conduits, pumping
						stations and force mains and all other construction, devices, and appliances
						appurtenant thereto, used for the collection and conveyance of sewage to a
						treatment works or point of ultimate disposal.
"Shrink-swell soils" means soils with horizons that
						contain montmorillonite and other clays that excessively shrink upon drying and
						swell upon wetting.
"Sink hole" means a depression in the topography without
						a surface outlet for drainage from the low point. Sink holes are common in
						areas containing limestone and generally result from the collapse of solution
						cavities.
"Soil" means the weathered mineral and organic fraction
						of the earth's regolith, which is less than or equal to 2.0 mm in size as
						observed in place. Soil comprises sands, silts, or clays or combinations of
						these textured components and may contain larger aggregate materials such as
						gravel, cobbles, stones, or channers or precipitates from aqueous solution.
						Soil includes the A, O, B, C, and E horizons.
"Soil horizon" means a layer of soil or soil material
						approximately parallel to the land surface and different from adjacent
						genetically related layers in physical, chemical, and biological properties or
						characteristics such as color, structure, texture, consistency, kinds, and
						numbers of organisms present, degree of acidity or alkalinity, etc.
"Subdivision" means multiple building lots derived from a
						parcel or parcels of land.
"Subsurface soil absorption" means a process which
						utilizes the soil to treat and dispose of effluent from a treatment works.
						(Also see "Subsurface drainfield" in § 32.1-163 of the Code of
						Virginia).
"Total suspended solids" or "TSS" means a measure of the
						mass of all suspended solids in a sample typically measured in milligrams per
						liter (mg/l).
"Treatment level 2 effluent" or "TL-2 effluent" means
						secondary effluent as defined in this section that has been treated to produce
						BOD5 and TSS concentrations equal to or less than 30
						mg/l each.
"Treatment level 3 effluent" or "TL-3 effluent" means
						effluent that has been treated to produce BOD5 and TSS
						concentrations equal to or less than 10 mg/l each.
"Treatment unit" or "treatment system" means a method,
						technique, equipment, or process other than a septic tank used to treat sewage
						to produce effluent of a specified quality before the effluent is dispersed to
						a soil treatment area.
"Treatment works" means any device or system used in the
						storage, treatment, disposal, or reclamation of sewage or combinations of
						sewage and industrial wastes, including pumping, power, and other equipment and
						appurtenances, septic tanks, and any works, including land, that are or will be
						(i) an integral part of the treatment process or (ii) used for ultimate
						disposal of residues or effluent resulting from such treatment.
"Working volume" means the volume in a pump tank between
						the pump off level and the high water alarm level.
Statutory Authority: §§ 32.1-12 and 32.1-164
						  of the Code of Virginia.