W. Va. Code R. § 64-19-3 - Definitions

3.1. Application. -- The Bureau's standard forms for applying for well driller and pump installer certification, water well permit or permit modification, including any additions, revisions, or modifications to the form.

3.2. Apprentice. -- A person working under the direction of a master or journeyman well driller or a pump installer.

3.3. Bureau. -- The Bureau for Public Health in the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.

3.4. Casing. -- Pipe or tubing, constructed of specific materials with specified dimensions and weights, that is installed in a borehole during or after completion of the borehole to support the side of the hole and thereby prevent caving, to allow completion of the well, to prevent formation material from entering the well and to prevent entry of undesirable water into the well.

3.5. Certified Well Driller. -- An individual granted a written certificate by the Commissioner to drill, construct, alter or abandon water wells who meets the requirements of this rule.

3.6. Commercial Well -- A well that serves small businesses and facilities in which water is the prime ingredient of the service rendered.

3.7. Commissioner. -- The Commissioner of the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health or his or her designee.

3.8. Continuing Education Hour. -- One hour of participation in an organized continuing education experience under the direction of a sponsor approved by the Commissioner for renewal of a certification. One Continuing Education Hour is equal to one point.

3.9. Design Standards. -- Those specifications, drawings, and other details promulgated by the Commissioner to ensure proper location, design, construction, completion and abandonment of water wells and installation or removal of water pumps as referenced in the Bureau's rules, Water Well Design Standards, 64CSR46, and Public Water System Design Standards, 64CSR77.

3.10. Dewatering Well. -- A well used to lower groundwater levels to allow for construction of footings, sewer lines, building foundations, dams, etc.

3.11. Hand Dug Well. -- A manually excavated well of a permanent nature installed for water supply.

3.12. Heat Pump or Geothermal Well. -- Any well constructed to use the heat exchange properties of either groundwater or of geologic material penetrated by the well.

3.13. Inactive Well. -- A well that is no longer actively used. It shall have a sanitary well cap and remain in a state of repair to prevent contamination from entering the well. It may be used in the future or be properly abandoned.

3.14. Industrial Well. -- A well used in industrial processing, fire protection, washing, packing, or manufacturing of a product excluding food and beverages, or similar non-potable uses.

3.15. Irrigation Well. -- A well used to provide water for plants, livestock, or other agricultural processes.

3.16. Journeyman Well Driller. -- A person certified by the Commissioner to practice well drilling under the general supervision of a master well driller.

3.17. Master Well Driller. -- A person certified by the Commissioner to practice well drilling including pump and pumping equipment installation, and removal, when maintenance or repair of a well is required.

3.18. Person. -- An individual, partnership, association, syndicate, company, firm, trust, corporation, government corporation, institution, department, division, bureau, agency, federal agency or any other entity recognized by law.

3.19. Potable Water. -- Water free from impurities in amounts sufficient to cause disease or harmful physiological effects, with bacteriological, chemical, physical and radiological quality conforming to applicable rules and standards of the Bureau for Public Health.

3.20. Potable Water Well. -- Any water well that provides potable water, other than a public water supply for human consumption.

3.21. Public Water System. -- Any water supply or system that regularly supplies or offers to supply water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances, if serving at least an average of twenty-five individuals per day for at least sixty days per year, or which has at least fifteen service connections, and includes:

3.21.a. Any collection, treatment, storage, and distribution facilities under the control of the owner or operator of the system and used primarily in connection with the system; and

3.21.b. Any collection or pretreatment storage facilities not under such control which are used primarily in connection with the system.

3.21.c. A public water system does not include a system which meets all of the following conditions:

3.21.c.1. It consists only of distribution and storage facilities and does not have any collection and treatment facilities;

3.21.c.2. It obtains all of its water from, but is not owned or operated by a public water system that otherwise meets the definition;

3.21.c.3. It does not sell water to any person; and

3.21.c.4. It is not a carrier conveying passengers in interstate commerce.

3.22. Pump. -- Any mechanical equipment or device used to transfer water from a well.

3.23. Pump Installation Contractor. -- An entity that contracts or agrees to perform a service or function related to any portion of installing a pump or pumping equipment into a water well or public water supply in exchange for money or comparable compensation.

3.24. Pump Installer. -- Any person who engages for compensation in pump or pumping equipment installation, removal, alteration or repair and who is certified by the Commissioner to practice pump and pumping equipment installation to withdraw water from a well.

3.25. Pumping Equipment. -- Equipment or related materials that are used or intended to assist withdrawing groundwater from a well, including seals and other safeguards to protect the water from contamination; associated fittings; intake and discharge piping; controls to provide sanitary water storage facilities and deliver water to a distribution piping system.

3.26. Test Wells (Exploratory/ Observation). -- A well that is used to obtain information on groundwater quantity; quality; aquifer characteristics; and availability of production water supply for manufacturing, commercial, and industrial facilities.

3.27. Water Return Well. -- A well constructed for returning water that has passed through the heat pump system to the subsurface.

3.28. Water Well. -- Any excavation or penetration in the ground, whether drilled, bored, cored, driven, washed, jetted, hand dug or otherwise constructed that enters or passes through an aquifer for purposes that may include, but are not limited to, a potable water supply, exploration for water, industrial, irrigation, commercial, dewatering, or geothermal heat pump wells, and water return wells. This definition shall not include ground water monitoring activities, and all activities for the exploration, development, production, storage and recovery of coal, oil and gas and other mineral resources regulated under Chapters 22, 22a, or 22b of the W. Va. Code.

3.29. Water Well Contractor. -- Any individual, partnership, syndicate, association, company, firm, trust, corporation or any other entity that contracts to drill, construct, alter, or abandon water wells in the State of West Virginia.

3.30. Well Completion Report. -- A record, accurately kept at the time of drilling, showing the depth; thickness and character of the different strata penetrated; location of water-bearing strata; water level; depth; size, type and amount of casing installed; location of the well; owner; driller; pump installer; date the well was completed; information on any permanent well pumping equipment installed by the well driller or pump installer and any other information required by the Commissioner.

3.30.a. For geothermal and dewatering wells, one completion form, indicating well locations, is required for a system regardless of the number of wells.

3.30.b. If wells vary in depth or geology, a single representative geologic log for each type is required. Water bearing zones, any voids, and coal seams or voids, or both penetrated shall be documented on the geologic log indicating appropriate depths.

3.31. Well Driller. -- An individual who engages in water well drilling, construction, alteration, or abandonment, or who supervises these activities.

Notes

W. Va. Code R. § 64-19-3