16 Tex. Admin. Code § 76.10 - Definitions
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Altering--The process
of changing the original design or intent of a completed well.
(2) Abandoned well--A well that is not in
use. A well is considered to be in use if:
(A) the well is not a deteriorated well and
contains the casing, pump, and pump column in good condition;
(B) the well is not a deteriorated well and
has been capped;
(C) the water from
the well has been put to an authorized beneficial use, as defined by the Texas
Water Code;
(D) the well is used in
the normal course and scope and with the intensity and frequency of other
similar users in the general community; or
(3) Annular
space--The space between the casing and borehole wall.
(4) Apprentice--An individual registered by
the department to act or offer to act as a driller or installer under the
supervision of, and pursuant to a training program developed by the supervising
licensed driller or pump installer.
(5) Atmospheric barrier--A section of cement
placed from two feet below land surface to the land surface when using granular
sodium bentonite as a casing sealant or plugging sealant in lieu of
cement.
(6) Bentonite--A sodium
hydrous aluminum silicate clay mineral (montmorillonite) commercially available
in powdered, granular, or pellet form which is mixed with potable water and
used for a variety of purposes including the stabilization of borehole walls
during drilling, the control of potential or existing high fluid pressures
encountered during drilling below a water table, and to provide a seal in the
annular space between the well casing and borehole wall.
(7) Bentonite grout--A fluid mixture of
sodium bentonite and potable water mixed at manufacturers' specifications to a
slurry consistency that can be pumped through a pipe directly into the annular
space between the casing and the borehole wall. Its primary function is to seal
the borehole in order to prevent the subsurface migration or communication of
fluids.
(8) Borehole or well
bore--The drilled hole.
(9) Capped
well--A well that is closed or capped with a covering capable of preventing
surface pollutants from entering the well and sustaining weight of at least 400
pounds and constructed in such a way that the covering cannot be easily removed
by hand.
(10) Casing--A watertight
pipe which is installed in an excavated or drilled hole, temporarily or
permanently, to maintain the hole sidewalls against caving, advance the
borehole, and in conjunction with cementing and/or bentonite grouting, to
confine the ground waters to their respective zones of origin, and to prevent
surface contaminant infiltration.
(11) Cement--A neat portland or construction
cement mixture of not more than seven gallons of water per 94-pound sack of dry
cement, or a cement slurry which contains cement along with bentonite, gypsum
or other additives.
(12) Cessation
of drilling--When the borehole has been drilled to total depth and casing has
been placed in the borehole.
(13)
Chemigation--A process whereby pesticides, fertilizers or other chemicals, or
effluents from animal wastes is added to irrigation water applied to land or
crop, or both, through an irrigation distribution system.
(14) Closed Loop Geothermal Well--A vertical
closed system well used to circulate water, and other fluids or gases through
the earth as a heat source or heat sink.
(15) Code--Refers to Texas Occupations Code,
Chapters 1901 and 1902.
(16)
Commingling--The mixing, mingling, blending or combining through the borehole
casing annulus or the filter pack of waters that differ in chemical quality,
which causes quality degradation of any aquifer or zone.
(17) Completed monitoring well--A monitoring
well which allows water from a single water-producing zone to enter the well
bore, but isolates the single water-producing zone from the surface and from
all other water-bearing zones by proper casing and/or cementing procedures.
Annular space positive displacement or pressure tremie tube grouting or
cementing (sealing) method shall be used when encountering injurious water or
constituents above or below the zone to be monitored or if the monitoring well
is greater than twenty (20) feet in total depth. The single water-producing
zone shall not include more than one continuous water-producing unit unless a
qualified geologist or a groundwater hydrologist has determined that all the
units screened or sampled by the well are interconnected naturally.
(18) Completed to produce undesirable
water--A completed well which is designed to extract water from a zone which
contains injurious water.
(19)
Completed water well--A water well, which has sealed off access of injurious
water or constituents to the well bore by utilizing proper casing and annular
space positive displacement or pressure tremie tube grouting or cementing
(sealing) methods.
(20)
Constituents--Elements, ions, compounds, or substances which may cause the
degradation of the soil or ground water.
(21) Deteriorated well--A well that, because
of its condition, will cause or is likely to cause pollution of any water in
this state, including groundwater.
(22) Dry litter poultry facility--Fully
enclosed poultry operation where wood shavings or similar material is used as
litter.
(23) Easy access--Access is
not obstructed by other equipment and the fitting can be removed and replaced
with a minimum of tools without risk of breakage of the attachment
parts.
(24) Edwards aquifer--That
portion of an arcuate belt of porous, water bearing, predominantly carbonate
rocks known as the Edwards and Associated Limestones in the Balcones Fault Zone
trending from west to east to northeast in Kinney, Uvalde, Medina, Bexar,
Comal, Hays, Travis, Williamson, and Bell Counties; and composed of the Salmon
Peak Limestone, McKnight Formation, West Nueces Formation, Devil's River
Limestone, Person Formation, Kainer Formation, Edwards Formation and Georgetown
Formation. The permeable aquifer units generally overlie the less-permeable
Glen Rose Formation to the south, overlie the less-permeable Comanche Peak and
Walnut formations north of the Colorado River, and underlie the less-permeable
Del Rio Clay regionally.
(25)
Environmental soil boring--An artificial excavation constructed to measure or
monitor the quality and quantity or movement of substances, elements,
chemicals, or fluids beneath the surface of the ground. The term shall not
include any well that is used in conjunction with the production of oil, gas,
or any other minerals.
(26) Filter
pack--The media that is used in the annular space around the well screen to
create a filter to prevent sand or sediment from entering the well.
(27) Flapper--The clapper, closing, or
checking device within the body of the check valve.
(28) Foreign substance--Constituents that
include recirculated tailwater and open-ditch water when a pump discharge pipe
is submerged in the ditch.
(29)
Freshwater--Water whose bacteriological, physical, and chemical properties are
such that it is suitable and feasible for beneficial use.
(30) Granular sodium bentonite--Sized, coarse
ground, untreated, sodium based bentonite (montmorillonite) which has the
specific characteristic of swelling in freshwater.
(31) Grout--This term shall include cement or
bentonite mixed with water, or a combination of bentonite and cement mixed with
water and/or department-approved additives.
(32) Injection well--This term includes:
(A) an air-conditioning return flow well used
to return water that has been used for heating or cooling in a heat pump to the
aquifer that supplied the water;
(B)a cooling water return flow well used to
inject water that has been used for cooling;
(C)a drainage well used to drain surface
fluid into a subsurface formation;
(D) a recharge well used to replenish water
in an aquifer;
(E) a saltwater
intrusion barrier well used to inject water into a freshwater aquifer to
prevent the intrusion of salt water into fresh water;
(F) a sand backfill well used to inject a
mixture of water and sand, mill tailings, or other solids into subsurface
mines;
(G) a subsidence control
well used to inject fluids into a non-oil-producing or non-gas-producing zone
to reduce or eliminate subsidence associated with the overdraft of fresh water;
and
(H) a closed system geothermal
well used to circulate water, other fluids, or gases through the earth as a
heat source or heat sink.
(33) Injurious water--Water that is harmful
to vegetation, land or other water as set forth in §1901.254(a) and
§1902.252(a) of the Code.
(34)
Irrigation distribution system--A device or combination of devices having a
hose, pipe, or other conduit which connects directly to any water well or
reservoir connected to the well, through which water or a mixture of water and
chemicals is drawn and applied to land. The term does not include any hand held
hose sprayer or other similar device, which is constructed so that an
interruption in water flow automatically prevents any backflow to the water
source.
(35) Monitoring well--An
artificial excavation that is constructed to measure or monitor the quantity or
movement of substances below the surface of the ground, and that is not used in
conjunction with the production of oil, gas, or other minerals.
(36) Mud for drilling--A relatively
homogenous, viscous fluid produced by the suspension of clay-size particles in
water or the additives of bentonite or polymers.
(37) Offering to act --Making a written or
oral proposal, contracting in writing or orally to perform well drilling or
pump installing work, or advertising in any form through any medium that a
person or business entity is a well driller or pump installer, or that implies
in any way that a person or business entity is available to contract for, act
as a driller or installer, or perform well drilling or pump installing
work.
(38) Piezometer--A device so
constructed and sealed as to measure hydraulic head at a point in the
subsurface.
(39) Piezometer well--A
well of a temporary nature constructed to monitor well standards for the
purpose of measuring water levels or used for the installation of piezometer
resulting in the determination of locations and depths of permanent monitor
wells.
(40) Placement and
preparation for operation of equipment and materials--Includes but is not
limited to removing the pump.
(41)
Plugging--An absolute sealing of the well bore.
(42) Pollution--The alteration of the
physical, thermal, chemical, or biological quality of, or the contamination of,
any water that renders the water harmful, detrimental, or injurious to humans,
animals, vegetation, or property, or to public health, safety, or welfare, or
impairs the usefulness or the public enjoyment of the water for any or
reasonable purpose.
(43) Positive
Displacement method--The process in which the cement, bentonite or a
combination of the two sealing materials is forced through the well casing
followed by water or drilling fluids, via a mechanical pump and out through
relief holes in the casing at the maximum depth of the zone to be grouted. The
grout then returns under pressure to the surface through the annular space and
upon curing or setting causing an annular seal.
(44) Potable water--Water which is safe for
human consumption in that it is free from impurities in amounts sufficient to
cause disease or harmful physiological effects.
(45) Public water system--A system supplying
water to a number of connections or individuals, as defined by current rules
and regulations of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, 30 TAC
Chapter 290.
(46) Recharge
zone--Generally, that area where the stratigraphic units constituting the
Edward Aquifer crop out, including the outcrops of other geologic formations in
proximity to the Edwards Aquifer, where caves, sinkholes, faults, fractures, or
other permeable features would create a potential for recharge of surface
waters into the Edwards Aquifer. The recharge zone is identified as that area
designated as such in official maps in the appropriate regional office of the
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
(47) Reconditioning--The process where a well
is cleaned out to original depth and the water production is restored. This
term shall include any procedures that make the well operable.
(48) Re-completion--The process to bring an
existing well into compliance with § 76.100 or § 76.105 by installing
any and all sanitary seals, safeguards, casing, grouting, and the re-setting of
well screens as required.
(49)
Recovery well--A well constructed for the purpose of recovering injurious
groundwater for treatment or removal of contamination.
(50) Sanitary well seal--A watertight device
to maintain a junction between the casing and the pump column.
(51) Test well--A well drilled to explore for
groundwater.
(52) Tremie pipe
method--The process in which a small diameter pipe or tubing is inserted in the
annular space of the well to the maximum depth of the zone to be sealed, before
the grouting procedure is commenced to pump sealing material through. The
tubing or pipe may be retrieved during the grouting process, causing an annular
seal.
(53) Water or waters in the
state--Groundwater, percolating or otherwise, lakes, bays, ponds, impounding
reservoirs, springs, rivers, streams, creeks, estuaries, marshes, inlets,
canals, the Gulf of Mexico inside the territorial limits of the state, and all
other bodies of surface water, natural or artificial, inland or coastal, fresh
or salt, navigable or non-navigable, and including the beds and banks of all
watercourses and bodies of surface water, that are wholly or partially inside
or bordering the state or inside the jurisdiction of the state.
(54) State of Texas Well Report (Well Log)--A
log recorded on forms prescribed by the department, at the time of drilling
showing the depth, thickness, character of the different strata penetrated,
location of water-bearing strata, depth, size, and character of casing
installed, together with any other data or information required by the
executive director.
Notes
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