West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 64 - Health › Title 64 - LEGISLATIVE RULE WEST VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN RESOURCES › Series 64-46 - Water Well Design Standards › Section 64-46-13 - Additional Requirements

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
13.1.
				All installations and operations shall meet or exceed relevant requirements of
				national, state, or local codes, whichever government body has
				jurisdiction.
13.2. The
				Commissioner shall specify construction requirements more stringent than those
				specified in this rule within specific areas of concern to protect the public
				health or prevent contamination of groundwater. The specific areas of concern
				recommendations shall be based on the assessment of the hydrologic condition
				and contaminant characteristics that may require more stringent design
				standards. Prior to requiring more stringent standards within a specific area
				of concern the Commissioner shall submit a report to the advisory board,
				established under the Bureau's rule, Water Well Regulation, 64CSR19, section
				11, for its review and recommendations.
13.3. When the strict application of any
				provision of this rule presents practical difficulties or unusual hardship, the
				Commissioner may grant a variance for that specific instance. Variance requests
				shall be made in writing to the Commissioner on forms prescribed by the
				Commissioner. The request shall include a thorough description of the site (lot
				size, the location of sewers, septic tanks, buildings, seepage fields, and
				other sources of contamination on the property and adjacent property with
				distances shown to the proposed well) and a brief summary of the provisions for
				which a variance is requested, and a complete justification as to why the
				variance is needed. The requestor shall include how the alternate standard
				protects the quality of groundwater and protects public health and safety. The
				request shall provide a description of site-specific geologic and soil
				conditions. The Commissioner shall not grant any variance unless the applicant
				demonstrates that there will be unusual and unnecessary hardship in complying
				with the rules; contamination of the water well will not occur as a result of
				construction and operation of the system; the health of persons using water
				from the private water system will not be endangered thereby; and no other
				technically feasible and economically reasonable means of obtaining water from
				the proposed type of water source exists. The Commissioner shall notify the
				applicant in writing within thirty (30) calendar days of its decision to either
				grant or deny the variance. In all cases, variances shall be approved in
				advance of the performance of the actual work.
13.3.a. After any variance is issued
				regarding the location of a well with respect to various contamination sources
				in Table 46-46 A of this rule, the Commissioner shall take two (2) water
				samples from the well and have them analyzed for Total coliform and
E.
				coli
at an approved laboratory. The Commissioner may require analysis
				for other water quality parameters that may exist in conjunction with the
				source of potential pollution as necessary to protect the health or safety of
				potential users. At the time the variance is approved, the Commissioner shall
				notify the owner as to what these parameters are. One (1) sample shall be taken
				within thirty (30) days and the second sample shall be taken within sixty (60)
				days, after completion of the well. After receiving the water analysis, the
				Commissioner shall determine if a water treatment unit shall be installed to
				accommodate any water quality problems as determined by the chemical and
				bacteriological testing.
13.3.b.
				Examples of location problems which could preclude compliance with this rule
				include the proposed location of a well being too close to septic tanks,
				buildings, sewer lines, or barnyards as indicated in Table 64-46 A of this
				rule.
13.3.c. Examples of public
				health and engineering principles that may be considered in issuing a variance
				are ground surface conditions, the depth of the water table, the location of
				sources of pollutants, the vulnerability of the aquifer to bacteria and other
				pollutants, and the geologic conditions at the site.