15A NCAC 02C .0102. DEFINITIONS

The terms used in this Subchapter shall be as defined in G.S. 87-85 and as follows, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1)           "Abandon" means to discontinue the use of and to seal a well according to the requirements of 15A NCAC 02C .0113 of this Section.

(2)           "Access port" means an opening in the well casing or well head installed for the primary purpose of determining the position of the water level in the well or to facilitate disinfection.

(3)           "Agent" means any person who by mutual and legal agreement with a well owner has authority to act in his behalf in executing applications for permits.  The agent may be either general agent or a limited agent authorized to do one particular act.

(4)           "Annular Space" means the space between the casing and the walls of the borehole or outer casing, or the space between a liner pipe and well casing.

(5)           "Artesian flowing well" means any well in which groundwater flows above the land surface without  the use of a pump; where the static water level or hydraulic head elevation is greater than the land surface under natural conditions.

(6)           "ASTM" means the American Society for Testing and Materials.

(7)           "Casing" means pipe or tubing constructed of materials and having dimensions and weights as specified in the rules of this Subchapter, 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 a well, to prevent formation material from entering the well, to prevent the loss of drilling fluids into permeable formations, and to prevent entry of contamination.

(8)           "Clay" means a substance comprised of natural, inorganic, fine-grained crystalline mineral fragments which, when mixed with water, forms a pasty, moldable mass that preserves its shape when air dried.

(9)           "Commission" means the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission or its successor, unless otherwise indicated.

(10)         "Consolidated rock" means rock that is firm and coherent, solidified or cemented, such as granite, gneiss, limestone, slate or sandstone, that has not been decomposed by weathering.

(11)         "Contaminate" or "Contamination" means the introduction of foreign materials of such nature, quality, and quantity into the groundwaters as to exceed the groundwater quality standards specified in 15A NCAC 02L (Classifications and Water Quality Standards Applicable to the Groundwaters of North Carolina).

[Note: 15A NCAC 02L .0202(b)(3) addresses where naturally occurring substances exceed  the established standard.]

(12)         "Department" is as defined in G.S. 87-85(5a).

(13)         "Designed capacity" means that capacity that is equal to the yield that is specified by the well owner or his agent prior to construction of the well.

(14)         "Director" means the Director of the Division of Water Quality or the Director's delegate.

(15)         "Division" means the Division of Water Quality.

(16)         "Domestic use" means water used for drinking, bathing, or other household purposes, livestock, or gardens.

(17)         "Formation Material" means naturally occurring material generated during the drilling process that is composed of sands, silts, clays or fragments of rock and which is not in a dissolved state.

(18)         "GPM" and "GPD" mean gallons per minute and gallons per day, respectively.

(19)         "Grout" means a material approved in accordance with Rule .0107(e) of this Section for use in sealing the annular space of a well or liner or for sealing a well during abandonment.

(20)         "Liner pipe" means pipe that is installed inside a completed and cased well for the purpose of preventing the entrance of contamination into the well or for repairing ruptured, corroded or punctured casing or screens.

(21)         "Monitoring well" means any well constructed for the primary purpose of obtaining samples of groundwater or other liquids for examination or testing, or for the observation or measurement of groundwater levels.  This definition excludes lysimeters, tensiometers, and other devices used to investigate the characteristics of the unsaturated zone but includes piezometers, a type of monitoring well constructed solely for the purpose of determining groundwater levels.

(22)         "Owner" means any person who holds the fee or other property rights in the well being constructed. 

                [Note: Absent a contrary agreement in writing, the Department will presume that the well owner and the land owner are the same person.]

(23)         "Pitless adapters" or "pitless units" are devices manufactured to the standards specified under  15A NCAC 02C .0107(j)(5) for the purpose of allowing a subsurface lateral connection between a well and plumbing appurtenances.

(24)         "Public water system" means a water system as defined in 15A NCAC 18C (Rules Governing Public Water Supplies).

(25)         "Recovery well" means any well constructed for the purpose of removing contaminated groundwater or other liquids from the subsurface.

(26)         "Saline" means having a chloride concentration of more than 250 milligrams per liter.

(27)         "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources or the Secretary's delegate.

(28)         "Settleable solids" means the volume of solid particles in a well‑mixed one liter sample which will settle out of suspension, in the bottom of an Imhoff Cone, after one hour.

(29)         "Site" means the land or water area where any facility, activity or situation is physically located, including adjacent or other land used in connection with the facility, activity or situation.

(30)         "Specific capacity" means the yield of the well expressed in gallons per minute per foot of draw‑down of the water level (gpm/ft.‑dd).

(31)         "Static water level" means the level at which the water stands in the well when the well is not being pumped and is expressed as the distance from a fixed reference point to the water level in the well.

(32)         "Suspended solids" means the weight of those solid particles in a sample which are retained by a standard glass microfiber filter, with pore openings of one and one‑half microns, when dried at a temperature between 103 and 105 degrees Fahrenheit.

(33)         "Temporary well" means a well that is constructed to determine aquifer characteristics, and which will be permanently abandoned or converted  to a permanent well within seven days (168 hours) of the completion of drilling of the borehole.

(34)         "Turbidity" means the cloudiness in water, due to the presence of suspended particles such as clay and silt, that may create esthetic problems or analytical difficulties for determining contamination.

(35)         "Vent" means a permanent opening in the well casing or well head, installed for the purpose of allowing changes in the water level in a well due to natural atmospheric changes or to pumping.  A vent may also serve as an access port.

(36)         "Well" is as defined in G.S. 87-85(14).

(37)         "Well capacity" means the maximum quantity of water that a well will yield continuously as determined by methods outlined in 15A NCAC 02C .0110.

(38)         "Well head" means the upper terminal of the well including adapters, ports, valves, seals, and other attachments.

(39)         "Well system" means two or more wells connected to the same distribution or collection system or, if not connected to a distribution or collection system, two or more wells serving the same site.

(40)         "Yield" means the volume of water or other fluid per time that can be discharged from a well under a given set of circumstances.

 

History Note:        Authority G.S. 87‑85; 87‑87; 143‑214.2; 143‑215.3;

Eff. February 1, 1976;

Amended Eff. September 1, 2009; April 1, 2001; December 1, 1992; July 1, 1988; March 1, 1985; September 1, 1984.