Virginia Administrative Code › Title 12 - HEALTH › Agency 5 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › Chapter 630 - PRIVATE WELL REGULATIONS › Part I - General Framework for Regulations › Article 1 - Definitions › Section 12VAC5-630-10 - 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.
"Abandoned well" means a private well whose pump has been
						disconnected for reasons other than repair or replacement, or whose use has
						been discontinued or pronounced abandoned by the owner. A temporarily abandoned
						well is a well that is intended to be returned to service as a source of water
						at some future time. A permanently abandoned well is a well that is not
						intended to be used as a source of water at any future time. Abandoned wells
						must meet the requirements of
						12VAC5-630-450.
"Agent" means a legally authorized representative of the
						owner.
"Annular space" means the space between the bore hole
						wall and the outside of a water well casing pipe, or between a casing pipe and
						a liner pipe.
"Aquifer" means a geologic formation, group of
						formations, or part of a formation, that transmits water.
"Bedrock" means any solid rock underlying soil, sand, or
						clay.
"Bored well" means a well that is excavated by means of a
						soil auger (hand or power) as distinguished from a well which is drilled,
						driven, dug, or jetted.
"Closed-loop ground-source heat pump well" means a well
						consisting of a sealed loop of plastic pipe buried beneath the earth's surface
						to allow heat transfer between the fluid in the pipe and the earth.
"Collapsing material" means any soil or gravel material
						which collapses upon itself forming a seal with the casing and leaves no voids
						around the casing.
"Commercially dependent well" means a well that is the
						sole source of water for a commercial facility that requires the water from the
						well for continued operation. Examples include wells serving an ice plant, a
						car wash facility, irrigation for commercial nurseries, or agricultural wells
						that provide water for livestock or irrigation.
"Commissioner" means the State Health Commissioner or his
						subordinate who has been delegated powers in accordance with
						12VAC5-630-90 B of this
						chapter.
"Confined aquifer" means an aquifer that is confined by
						an overlying impermeable formation.
"Consolidated rock" means a formation consisting entirely
						of a natural rock formation that contains no soil and does not collapse against
						the well casing.
"Construction of wells" means acts necessary to construct
						private wells, including the location of private wells, the boring, digging,
						drilling, or otherwise excavating of a well hole and the installation of casing
						with or without well screens, or well curbing.
"Deep well ejector pump system" means a well that
						utilizes a casing adapter and a deep well ejector. These wells must maintain a
						constant vacuum to operate.
"Dewatering well" means a driven well constructed for the
						sole purpose of lowering the water table and kept in operation for a period of
						60 days or less. Dewatering wells are used to allow construction in areas where
						a high water table hinders or prohibits construction and are always temporary
						in nature.
"Disinfection" means the destruction of all pathogenic
						organisms.
"Division" means the Division of On-Site Sewage and Water
						Services.
"District health department" means a consolidation of
						local health departments as authorized in § 32.1-31C of the Code of
						Virginia.
"Drilled shallow well suction pump system" means a
						drilled well two inches or less in diameter that utilizes an offset pump to
						draw water from the well through the casing. These wells must maintain a
						constant vacuum in order to operate.
"Drilled well" means a well that is excavated wholly or
						in part by means of a drill (either percussion or rotary) which operates by
						cutting or abrasion.
"Driven well" means a well that is constructed by driving
						a pipe, at the end of which there is a drive point and screen, without the use
						of any drilling, boring or jetting device.
"Dug well" means a well that is excavated by means of
						picks, shovels, or other hand tools, or by means of a power shovel or other
						dredging or trenching machinery, as distinguished from a bored, drilled,
						driven, or jetted well.
"Emergency well replacement" means the replacement of an
						existing private drinking water well, heat pump well, or commercially dependent
						well that has failed to deliver the water needed for its intended use. Such
						failure requires the drilling of a new well or extensive modifications to the
						existing well. The replacement of failed noncommercial irrigation wells, and
						other types of private wells are not considered emergencies.
"Gravel pack" means gravel placed outside a well screen
						in a well to assist the flow of water into the well screen and to inhibit
						clogging of the screen.
"Ground water" means any water, except capillary
						moisture, beneath the land surface in the zone of saturation or beneath the bed
						of any stream, lake, reservoir or other body of surface water within the
						boundaries of this Commonwealth, whatever may be the subsurface geologic
						structure in which such water stands, flows, percolates, or otherwise
						occurs.
"Grout" means any stable, impervious bonding material,
						reasonably free of shrinkage, which is capable of providing a watertight seal
						in the annular spaces of a water well throughout the depth required, to protect
						against the intrusion of objectionable matter.
"Jetted well" means a well that is excavated using water
						pumped under pressure through a special washing point to create a water jet
						which cuts, abrades, or erodes material to form the well.
"Local health department" means the department
						established in each city and county in accordance with § 32.1-30 of the
						Code of Virginia.
"Noncollapsing material" means soil or gravel material
						which can maintain an open bore hole long enough to grout the annular space
						between a well and the bore hole. For the purpose of this chapter, soil or
						gravel material which collapsed upon itself but created voids around the casing
						is considered noncollapsing material.
"Observation or monitoring well" means a well constructed
						to measure hydrogeologic parameters, such as the fluctuation of water levels,
						or for monitoring the quality of ground water, or for both purposes.
"Owner" means any person, who owns, leases, or proposes
						to own or lease a private well.
"Person" means any and all persons, including
						individuals, firms, partnerships, associations, public or private institutions,
						municipalities or political subdivisions, governmental agencies, or private or
						public corporations organized under the law of this Commonwealth or any other
						state or country.
"Private well" means any water well constructed for a
						person on land which is owned or leased by that person and is usually intended
						for household, ground water source heat pump, agricultural use, industrial use,
						or other nonpublic water well.
"Replacement well" means a well being constructed to take
						the place of an existing well that is being taken out of service and is being
						abandoned.
"Sanitary survey" means an investigation of any condition
						that may affect public health.
"Screen" means the intake section of a well that obtains
						water from an unconsolidated aquifer providing for the water to flow freely and
						adding structural support to the bore hole. Screens are used to increase well
						yield or prevent the entry of sediment, or both.
"Sewage" means water carried and nonwater carried human
						excrement, kitchen, laundry, shower, bath, or lavatory wastes separately or
						together with such underground, surface, storm and 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.
"Sewer" means any sanitary or combined sewer used to
						convey sewage or municipal or industrial wastes.
"Sewerage system" means pipelines 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.
"Subsurface soil absorption" means a process which
						utilizes the soil to treat and dispose of sewage effluent.
"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 but not limited to 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
						the ultimate disposal of residues or effluents resulting from such
						treatment.
"Variance" means a conditional waiver of a specific
						regulation which is granted to a specific owner relating to a specific
						situation or facility and may be for a specified time period.
"Water table" means the uppermost surface of ground water
						saturation. The level in the saturated zone at which the pressure is equal to
						atmospheric pressure.
"Water well" or "well" means any artificial opening or
						artificially altered natural opening, however made, by which ground water is
						sought or through which ground water flows under natural pressure or is
						intended to be artificially drawn; provided this definition shall not include
						wells drilled for the following purposes:
(i) exploration or production of oil or gas,
					 (ii) building foundation investigation and construction, (iii) elevator shafts,
					 (iv) grounding of electrical apparatus, or (v) the modification or development
					 of springs.
"Yield" means the quantity of water, usually measured in
						volume of water per unit time, which may flow or which may be pumped, from a
						well or well field.
Statutory Authority
§§ 32.1-12 and 32.1-176 of the Code of
						  Virginia.