Virginia Law

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 from which the pump has been disconnected for reasons other than repair or replacement, or the use of which has been discontinued or which has been 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.

"Agent" means a legally authorized representative of the owner.

"Agricultural operation" means an operation devoted to the bona fide production of crops, animals, or fowl, including the production of fruits and vegetables of all kinds; meat, dairy, and poultry products; nuts, tobacco, nursery and floral products; and the production and harvest of products from silviculture activity.

"Annular space" means the space between the well bore 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 has the capability to store and transmit water in sufficient quantity to constitute a usable supply source.

"Bedrock" means the solid, potentially fractured and fissured rock formations that occur beneath soils, underlying sediment deposits, or weathered material.

"Beneficial use" means use of water that includes domestic, agricultural, commercial, industrial, and investigative purposes.

"Bioretention pond" means a best management practice structure engineered for the purpose of reducing the pollutant load in storm water runoff to surface water and groundwater systems.

"Biosolids" means solid, semisolid, or liquid materials removed from municipal sewage and treated to be suitable for recycling as fertilizer , as defined in 9VAC25-31-10 and 9VAC25-32-10. For the purpose of this chapter, biosolids do not include exceptional quality biosolids as that term is defined in 9VAC25-32-10.

"Board" means the State Board of Health.

"Bored well" means a well that is excavated by means of a soil auger (hand or power) as distinguished from a well that is drilled, driven, dug, or jetted.

"Casing" means a hollow cylindrical device (typically steel, plastic, or concrete) that is installed in a well to maintain the well opening and to provide a seal.

"Clean fill" means any combination of undisturbed soil and natural earth material, commercially available quarried sand or gravel product, and cuttings from the well being constructed, provided that the materials do not contain contaminated media. In this context, undisturbed soil and natural earth materials refers to unconsolidated mineral and organic material on the immediate surface of the Earth that developed naturally on the property on which it originates.

"Closed-loop ground-source heat pump well" means a well consisting of a sealed loop of plastic pipe buried vertically beneath the earth's surface to allow heat transfer between the fluid in the pipe and the earth. Horizontal closed-loop ground source heat pump pipe configurations installed in trenches, including those which may intercept shallow groundwater, are excluded.

"Coliform" means a broad group of naturally occurring bacteria species found in soils and rocks. Coliform bacteria are more prevalent in near-surface soils, and their presence in well water may indicate the possible presence of more harmful pathogens.

"Collapsing material" means soil or gravel material that 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, or as irrigation for commercial nurseries, or agricultural wells that provide water for livestock or irrigation.

"Commissioner" means the State Health Commissioner, who is the chief executive officer of the board, a deputy commissioner, or a subordinate who has been delegated powers in accordance with subdivision 2 of 12VAC5-630-90 of this chapter.

"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 dewatering" means the process of draining an excavated area that is flooded with rain water or groundwater before construction can start.

"Construction of wells" means acts necessary to locate and construct private wells.

"Contaminated media" means soil, sediment, dredged material, or debris that, as a result of a release or human use, has absorbed or adsorbed physical, chemical, or radiological substances at concentrations above those consistent with nearby or undisturbed soil or natural earth materials.

"Controlled low strength material" or "flowable fill" means a slurry comprised of cement, water, and fine aggregate or filler (including coal ash, foundry sand, quarry fines, and baghouse dust in any combination).

"Cuttings" means the solid material, saturated or unsaturated, removed from a borehole drilled by rotary, percussion, or auger methods.

"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.

"Department" means the Virginia Department of Health.

"Deputy commissioner" means a person who serves as a deputy commissioner in accordance with § 32.1-22 of the Code of Virginia.

"DEQ" means the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

"Disinfection" means a process that inactivates or destroys pathogenic organisms in water by use of a disinfectant.

"Division" means the Division of On-Site Sewage and Water Services, Environmental Engineering, and Marina Programs within the department.

"District health department" means a consolidation of local health departments as authorized in § 32.1-31 C of the Code of Virginia.

"DPOR" means the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation.

"Drilled shallow well suction pump system" means a drilled well two inches or smaller 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) that 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 a 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. The 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 sand or 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.

"Groundwater" means water, except capillary moisture, beneath the land surface in the zone of saturation or beneath the bed of a stream, lake, reservoir or other body of surface water within the boundaries of this Commonwealth, whatever may be the subsurface geologic structure in which the water stands, flows, percolates, or otherwise occurs.

"Groundwater management area" means a geographically defined groundwater area in which the State Water Control Board has deemed the levels, supply, or quality of groundwater to be adverse to public welfare, health, and safety pursuant to 9VAC25-600.

"Grout" means a stable, impervious bonding material, reasonably free of shrinkage, that 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.

"Human consumption" means drinking, food preparation, dishwashing, bathing, showering, hand washing, teeth brushing, and maintaining oral hygiene.

"Jetted well" means a well that is excavated using water pumped under pressure through a special washing point to create a water jet that cuts, abrades, or erodes material to form the well.

"Lead free" means the following:

1. When used with respect to solders and flux, refers to solder and flux containing not more than 0.2% lead.

2. When used with respect to pipes, pipe fittings, plumbing fittings, and plumbing fixtures, refers to the weighted average of wetted surfaces of pipes, pipe fittings, plumbing fittings, and plumbing fixtures containing not more than 0.25% lead.

"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 that can maintain an open well bore long enough to grout the annular space between a well and the well bore. For the purpose of this chapter, soil or gravel material that collapsed upon itself but created voids around the casing is considered noncollapsing material.

"Nonpublic water" means pure water that is not provided by a waterworks.

"Observation well" or "monitoring well" means a well constructed to measure hydrogeologic parameters or for scientific monitoring of the quality of groundwater, or for both purposes.

"Owner" means the Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions, including sanitary districts, sanitation district commissions and authorities, an individual, a group of individuals acting individually or as a group, a public or private institution, corporation, company, partnership, firm, or association that owns or proposes to own or lease a private well.

"Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, association, or any other legal entity.

"Pollutant" means substances, including solid waste, sewage, effluent, radioactive materials, petroleum products, manufactured chemical products, and industrial byproducts, that can detrimentally affect the quality of water.

"Private well" means a water well constructed for a person on land that is owned or leased by that person and is usually intended for household, groundwater source heat pump, agricultural use, industrial use, or other nonpublic water well.

"Pure water" means water of a quality suitable for human consumption that is (i) sanitary and normally free of minerals, organic substances, and toxic agents in excess of reasonable amounts and (ii) adequate in quantity and quality for the minimum health requirements of the persons served.

"Reclaimed water" means treated wastewater that can be used for beneficial purposes, determined by the degree of treatment achieved.

"Remediation well" means an observation or monitoring well in use for recovery or treatment of one or more pollutants.

"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 obvious sources of potentially toxic or dangerous substances within 200 feet of a proposed private well.

"Screen" means the intake section of a well casing 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 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 a pipe or conduit used to convey sewage or industrial waste streams.

"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 that utilizes the soil to treat and dispose of sewage effluent.

"Treatment works" means a 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 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 the treatment.

"Tremie pipe" means a tube through which grout, filter media, or other flowing material is placed by gravity feed or pumping. The pipe is placed at the lowermost part of the well feature being treated (inner casing or annular space), and the bottom of the pipe remains submerged in the material being placed as the pipe is raised in order to prevent uneven distribution or bridging.

"Variance" means a conditional waiver of a specific regulation that is granted to a specific owner relating to a specific situation or facility and may be for a specified time period.

"Water quality" means the chemical, physical, bacteriological, and radiological characteristics of water with respect to its suitability for a particular purpose.

"Water table" means the uppermost surface of groundwater saturation in an unconfined aquifer and the level in the saturated zone at which the pressure is equal to atmospheric pressure.

"Water well" or "well" means an artificial opening or artificially altered natural opening, however made, by which groundwater is sought or through which groundwater flows under natural pressure or is intended to be artificially drawn.

"Water well systems" means the water well to reach groundwater and the well pump and tank, including pipe and wire, up to and including the point of connection to plumbing and electrical systems.

"Water well systems provider" means the person certified by DPOR to provide the drilling, installation, maintenance, or repair of a water wells or water well systems.

"Waterworks" means a system that serves piped water for human consumption to at least 15 service connections or 25 or more individuals for at least 60 days out of the year. "Waterworks" includes all structures, equipment, and appurtenances used in the storage, treatment, and distribution of pure water except the piping and fixtures inside the building where the water is delivered.

"Well area" means an area designated on a construction permit as appropriate for the construction of a private well.

"Well bore" means a vertical hole advanced into the earth, however created, by a water well system provider, in which a well is constructed.

"Well site" means the location on the ground surface of a property designated on a construction permit for the construction of a private well.

"Work days" or "working days" means days on which the department, the district health department, or the local health department, as applicable in context, is open for business, excluding holidays and closures.

"Yield" means the quantity of water, usually measured in volume of water per unit of time, which may flow or which may be pumped, from a well or well field.