The purpose of this chapter is to protect the quality of the
groundwater resources. Pennsylvania has no regulations requiring the
proper construction of most wells or boreholes, and their improper
construction can provide short-circuit flow pathways for surface and
subsurface contaminants to impact groundwater quality. This chapter
sets forth standards for the construction of wells and boreholes that
are not otherwise regulated.
The scope of this chapter applies to the construction, modification,
alteration, termination, and abandonment of all wells and boreholes
that penetrate more than 20 feet below grade (hereinafter "wells and/or
boreholes"), including but not limited to domestic water supply wells,
geothermal heat system wells and/or boreholes, geotechnical borings,
test borings, agricultural wells, irrigation wells, commercial wells,
industrial wells, etc. The proper sealing of wells and boreholes using
approved grout is a critical element of this chapter. The following
are exempt from this chapter:
A. Wells and/or boreholes associated with water supply wells for public
water systems (defined by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection as consisting of at least 15 service connections or regularly
serve no fewer than 25 individuals daily at least 60 days out of the
year).
B. Horizontal geothermal heat exchangers constructed in pits, trenches,
ditches, or in horizontal directional borings that remain entirely
less than 20 feet below the surface.
C. Monitoring wells whose construction and operation is overseen by
the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
D. Borings/boreholes (such as shot holes, exploratory borings, etc.)
at a mining site associated with mining activities whose construction
and operation are overseen by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection.
F. Foundations, pilings, and other soil and/or bedrock penetrations
which are an integral part of building construction.
G. Normal routine maintenance and minor repairs to keep a well or borehole
in good working order.
H. Wells that are completed and fully operational as of the effective
date of this chapter.
The governing body is hereby authorized and empowered to undertake
within Potter Township the regulation of the construction of regulated
wells and/or boreholes.
The governing body is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt
such rules and regulations concerning the construction of wells and/or
boreholes which it may deem necessary from time to time to effect
the purposes herein.
Sections 301(b), 503(10), 503.1, 603(d), 604.1, and 707.4 of
the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (Act of 1968, P.L. 805,
No. 247, as reenacted and amended) set forth municipal jurisdiction
for water resource management and in conformity with the Potter Township
Code of Ordinances. Likewise, Section 1506 (General Powers) of the
Pennsylvania Second Class Township Code states that the Township Board of Supervisors may make
and adopt any ordinances, bylaws, rules, and regulations, consistent
with the Constitution and laws of the commonwealth, that are necessary
for the maintenance of the health and welfare of the Township's
residents and businesses.
The governing body shall have the right and power to fix, charge,
and collect rates, assessments and other charges in Potter Township
at reasonable and uniform rates as authorized by applicable law.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
ABANDONED WATER SUPPLY WELL
A water supply well, the regular use of which has been discontinued
for a period of one year or more, or which is in such a state of disrepair
that continued use for the purpose of obtaining groundwater is impracticable,
or which has been replaced by a new well or public water supply. Wells
held in a backup or reserve status shall not be considered abandoned
for the purposes of this chapter if they are well maintained, do not
pose a threat to the environment and there is a reasonable plan in
place to return a well to active service should the primary well fail
to remain viable, or if the facilities serviced by this well may be
returned to service.
ALTERATION
Any action which necessitates entering a well with drilling
tools; treating a well to increase yield, altering the physical structure
of depth of the well; blasting; removal or replacement of well casing.
ANNULAR SPACE
The space between two cylindrical objects, one of which surrounds
the other, such as the space between a drill hole and a casing pipe.
ANSI
American National Standards Institute.
API
American Petroleum Institute.
APPROVED GROUT
Neat cement, cement plus bentonite, bentonite, bentonite
plus silica sand, or low-permeability sealing material as approved
for use by Potter Township. Approved grout is to be mixed and applied
according to the manufacturer's specifications (e.g., water content
and viscosity) for use in grouting wells and/or geothermal boreholes.
AQUIFER
A geologic formation, group of formations, or part of a formation
that contains sufficient saturated permeable material to yield significant
quantities of water to wells and springs.
ASTM
American Society for Testing and Materials.
BACK SIPHONAGE
The flowing back of used, contaminated or polluted water
from a plumbing fixture or vessel or other sources into a potable
water supply pipe due to negative pressure in such pipe.
BENTONITE
A highly plastic, colloidal clay composed largely of the
mineral montmorillonite.
BORING/BOREHOLE
A penetration of soil and/or rock that is augered, drilled,
cored, bored, washed, driven, dug, jetted, or otherwise constructed
which is generally cylindrical in shape and whose diameter is generally
smaller than its depth of penetration.
BRIDGING MATERIAL
Solids added to a drilling fluid to bridge across the pore
throat or fractures of an exposed rock thereby building a filter cake
to prevent loss of whole mud or excessive filtrate.
CASING
An impervious durable pipe placed in a well to prevent the
walls from caving and to seal off surface drainage or undesirable
water, gas or other fluids and prevent their entering the well.
CHIP BENTONITE GROUT
Chip bentonite grout is composed of dry three-eighths-inch
or one-half-inch-sized chips of bentonite.
CLOSED-LOOP GEOTHERMAL SYSTEM
A type of geothermal heating and/or cooling system that utilizes
a pressurized heat exchanger consisting of pipe, a circulating pump,
and a water-source heat pump in which the heat-transfer fluid is not
exposed to the atmosphere. The heat-transfer fluid is potable or beneficial
reuse water and may have approved antifreeze added.
COLIFORM
All of the aerobic and facultative anaerobic, gram negative,
non-spore forming, rod-shaped bacteria which are capable of fermenting
lactose with gas formation within 48 hours at 35° C.
COMMUNITY WATER SYSTEM
A water system which serves at least 15 service connections
used by year-round residents or regularly serves at least twenty-five-year-round
residents.
CONSTRUCTION OF WELLS
All acts necessary to obtain groundwater, or artificially
recharge groundwater; provided, however, such term does not include
an excavation made for the purpose of obtaining or prospecting for
oil, natural gas, minerals, or products of mining or quarrying, or
for inserting media to repressure oil or natural gas formations or
for storing petroleum, natural gas, or other products and services.
Construction of wells includes the location and excavation or drilling
of the well, but excludes the installation of pumps and pumping equipment.
CONTRACTOR
Any individual, partnership, company, association, corporation,
group or entity employed, hired, contracted or otherwise engaged by
the owner to perform defined services for compensation.
CROSS CONNECTION
An arrangement allowing either direct or indirect connection
through which backflow, including back siphonage, can occur between
the drinking water in a public water system and a system containing
a potential source of contamination.
CURING TIME
Minimum time required for particular types of cementing or
grouting materials to harden or set up before drilling or other construction
operations can be resumed.
DCNR
Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
DECOMMISSIONED VERTICAL CLOSED LOOP BOREHOLE
A vertical closed loop borehole whose original purpose and
use have been permanently discontinued or which is in such a state
of disrepair that its original purpose cannot be reasonably achieved.
DECOMMISSIONING
The act of rendering a well or borehole to a condition where
there is no pathway present for surface or subsurface contaminants
to travel down to the water table.
DEP
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
DIRECT EXCHANGE (DX) GEOTHERMAL SYSTEM
A type of geothermal heating and/or cooling system where
the heat pump refrigerant is circulated through metal piping installed
in vertical, inclined, or horizontal boreholes. This type of geothermal
system must use a cement-based, special grout in the boreholes and
must have electronic corrosion protection for the metal piping.
DRILLING MUD
A fluid composed of water and bentonite used in the drilling
operation to remove cuttings from the hole, to clean and cool the
bit, to reduce friction between the drill stem and the sides of the
hole, and to plaster the sides of the hole. Such fluids range from
relatively clear water to carefully prepared mixtures of special purpose
compounds.
FLOWABLE FILL
Flowable fill is a mixture of portland cement (ASTM C150),
potable water, sand, and a fluidizing agent. This mixture is predominately
sand. An example mixture of flowable fill contains approximately 85%
sand, 9% water, 4% portland cement, 2% finely ground slag, and a fluidizing
agent. Flowable fill and other bridging agents do not meet the permeability
requirements to protect groundwater quality and prevent flow between
aquifer zones.
FLOWING WELL
A well that yields water by artesian pressure at the ground
surface.
FUSE
To make a plastic pipe joint by heat and pressure in accordance
with the pipe manufacturer's specifications.
GEOTHERMAL HEATING AND/OR COOLING SYSTEM
A system that uses a heat pump to extract heat from the earth
in heating mode and/or reject heat into the earth in cooling mode.
It is also called a geothermal heat pump system, a ground-coupled
heat pump system, an earth-source heat pump system, and a geoexchange
system.
GROUND-COUPLED HEAT PUMP
A geothermal heat pump that uses the earth itself as a heat
source and heat sink. It is coupled to the ground by means of a closed-loop
heat exchanger installed horizontally or vertically underground.
GROUNDWATER
Water within the earth below the water table within the zone
of saturation. Groundwater includes both water under water table conditions
and confined within deep aquifers.
GROUT
A high-solids fluid mixture of cement or bentonite and potable
water of a consistency that can be pumped through a tremie pipe and
placed as required. Various additives, such as sand or bentonite,
may be included in the mixture to meet certain requirements.
GROUTING, POSITIVE EMPLACEMENT
A technique of the installation of grouting materials whereby
emplacement is achieved by positive pumping pressure through a tremie
pipe from the bottom of the zone upward.
HEAT PUMP
A mechanical device used for heating and/or cooling which
operates by pumping heat from a cooler to a warmer location.
HYDROLOGIC BALANCE
This term refers to the condition where, in the long term,
the rate of local groundwater pumping from an aquifer does not exceed
the rate of local groundwater recharge to the aquifer.
IGSHPA
The International Ground Source Heat Pump Association.
INDIVIDUAL WATER SUPPLY
A system including wells, pumps, and piping equipment, which
supplies water to a private home.
INSTALLATION OF PUMPS AND PUMPING EQUIPMENT
The procedure employed in the placement and preparation for
operation of pumps and pumping equipment, including all construction
involved in making entrance to the well and establishing seals but
not including repairs to existing installations.
MAJOR ALTERATION OF A WELL AND/OR BOREHOLE
Any alteration of a regulated well or borehole which can
increase the potential for rapid vertical flow of water into groundwater
or which can otherwise increase the potential to pollute groundwater.
Examples of major alterations include, but are not limited to, deepening
of an existing well, conversion of a well to another use (such as
geothermal heating), etc.
MINOR ALTERATION
Any alteration that is not otherwise defined as a major alteration.
NEAT CEMENT GROUT
A fluid mixture of hydraulic cement and water, with or without
admixtures in the following proportions; one bag of cement [94 pounds
(42.6 kg)] to not less than five gallons (18.9 I) nor more than seven
gallons (26.5 I) of water.
N.S.F.
National Sanitation Foundation.
OPEN-LOOP GEOTHERMAL SYSTEM
A type of geothermal heating and/or cooling system that utilizes
a water-supply well and a water pump to deliver groundwater to a water-source
heat pump. The discharge water from the water-source heat pump may
be returned to the subsurface through a recharge well or infiltration
bed, or may be discharged into a pond, lake, or stream. A spring may
also be the source of the groundwater supply.
OTHER FILL AND BRIDGING MATERIALS
Under some limited circumstances, borehole completion without
grout (below the minimum twenty-foot depth of the approved grout surface
formation seal), may be necessary. Acceptable fill materials are site
specific and may include, but may not be limited to: bentonite chips,
cuttings removed from the borehole; clean sand, gravel, or a mixture
of sand and gravel; and/or cement and water or concrete mixes.
OTHER GROUT AND FILL PLACEMENT METHODS
Other methods of grout or fill placement shall be accepted
if such methods allow verification of completion. Such methods must
ensure that the grout or fill placement provides environmental protection
and the intended system performance.
OWNER
Any person vested with sole or partial, legal or equitable
ownership of the subject property.
PACKER
A mechanical device that is placed in a borehole to prevent
the vertical movement of water or grout.
PERMEABILITY
A measure of the relative ease with which a porous medium
can transmit a liquid under a potential gradient. It is a property
of the medium alone and is independent of the nature of the liquid
and of the force field causing movement. It is a property of the medium
that is dependent upon the shape and size of the pores.
PERSON
Shall mean any individual, partnership, company, association,
corporation or other group or legal entity.
PITLESS ADAPTOR
A device or assembly of parts which will permit water to
pass through the wall of the well casing or extension thereof, and
which provides access to the well and to the parts of the water system
within the well in a manner to prevent entrance of pollution into
the well and the water produced.
POLYMER
A substance consisting of molecules characterized by the
repetition of one or more types of monomeric units.
PORTLAND CEMENT (NEAT CEMENT) GROUT
A mixture of portland cement (ASTM C150 standard specification
for portland cement) and not more than six gallons (22.7 I) of potable
water per bag [one cubic foot (28.3 I) or 94 pounds (42.6 kg)] of
cement shall be used according to the manufacturer's specifications.
PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM
A system which provides water to the public for human consumption
which has at least 15 service connections or regularly serves an average
of at least 25 individuals daily at least 60 days out of the year.
The term is either a community or non-community system and includes
collection, treatment, storage and distribution facilities under the
control of the operator of the system and used in connection with
the system. The term also includes a system which provides water for
bottling or bulk hauling for human consumption.
PUMPABLE BENTONITE GROUT
Pumpable bentonite grout is a high-solids mixture of sodium
bentonite powder or granules and potable water mixed according to
the manufacturer's specifications.
REPLACEMENT AREA
An area on a lot which has been previously tested by the
municipality's SEO and designated as a reserved sewage area on
a plot plan for use as a second sewage disposal system should the
primary disposal area fail.
RETURN WELL
A well designed and constructed for the return of water to
the ground.
SAND-CEMENT GROUT
A mixture of portland cement, Type I (ASTM C150), sand and
water in the proportion of not more than two parts by weight of sand
to one part of cement with not more than six gallons (22.7 I) of potable
water per bag of cement [one cubic foot (28.3 1)] or 94 pounds (42.6
kg) shall be used according to the manufacturer's specifications.
SEMIPUBLIC WATER SUPPLY
A water supply which services one or several facilities such
as industrial or commercial establishments, parks, camps, hotels,
motels, schools, institutions, eating and drinking establishments
or a water supply which services two or more dwelling units and is
not a public water system as defined by the Pennsylvania Safe Drinking
Water Act (35 P.S. § 721.1 et seq.).
STANDING-COLUMN GEOTHERMAL SYSTEM
A type of open-loop geothermal heating and/or cooling system
that circulates groundwater from a water well through a water-source
heat pump and returns the discharge water from the water-source heat
pump to the same water well it was pumped from. The water withdrawal
and return locations within the water well bore are separated as far
as is possible. Some standing-column geothermal systems discharge
some of the circulating groundwater to enhance their heat transfer.
THERMALLY ENHANCED BENTONITE-BASED GROUT
Thermally enhanced bentonite-based grout is a high-solids
mixture of sodium bentonite, inert additives such as sand or rock
dust that enhance thermal conductivity, and potable water mixed according
to the manufacturer's specifications. The sand must be clean
so as to not introduce contaminants into the grout mixture. The use
of special additives to alter permeability, increase thermal conductivity,
increase fluidity, control grout loss, and/or control time of set,
and the composition of the resultant slurry, must be used in accordance
with the manufacturer's specifications.
TREMIE PIPE
A rigid or flexible pipe or a hose that carries the grouting
materials to the bottom of the zone being grouted. The tremie pipe
is withdrawn as the grout material fills the annular space outside
the casing or fills the space between the loop pipes and the borehole
wall. The end of the tremie pipe is kept submerged just below the
surface of the grout material.
TREMIE PLACEMENT METHOD FOR FILL AND BRIDGING MATERIALS
The tremie pipe shall be lowered to the bottom of the zone
being filled, and raised slowly as the fill material is introduced.
When using the tremie pipe method to install fills, the bottom of
the tremie should be maintained as close as possible to, but not inside
of, the emplaced fill.
TREMIE PLACEMENT METHOD FOR GROUT
After water or other drilling fluid has been circulated in
the annular space sufficient to clear obstructions, grout shall be
placed by pressure pumping through a tremie pipe. The tremie pipe
shall be lowered to the bottom of the zone being grouted, and raised
slowly as the material is introduced.
VERTICAL CLOSED-LOOP BOREHOLE
A borehole which is constructed to receive heat-exchanger
loop pipes and grout material. Fill material may be used below a minimum
depth of 20 feet below grade as the subsurface conditions warrant.
WATER-SOURCE HEAT PUMP
A heat pump that uses a water-to-refrigerant heat exchanger
to extract heat from the heat source.
WATER SUPPLY WELL
Any well that is constructed to remove or return water to
the ground.
WATER TABLE
That surface in an unconfined groundwater body at which the
pressure is atmospheric. It is defined by the levels at which water
stands in wells that penetrate the water body just far enough to hold
standing water.
WELL
Any excavation that is drilled, cored, bored, washed, driven,
dug, jetted, or otherwise constructed when the intended use of such
excavation is for the location, acquisition, monitoring, or artificial
recharge of groundwater. This includes but is not limited to test
wells, test borings, and monitoring wells, in addition to wells to
be utilized as individual or semipublic water supplies.
WELL DRILLER
An individual or company that is permitted or licensed by
the State of Pennsylvania to drill wells in Pennsylvania.
WELL SCREEN
A filtering device that allows groundwater from unconsolidated
and semiconsolidated aquifers to enter the well while at the same
time keeping the majority of sand and gravel out of the well and out
of the pump. A screen also supports the aquifer material and prevents
the borehole from collapsing.
WELL SEAL
An approved device or method used to protect a well casing
or water system from the entrance of any external pollutant at the
point of entrance into the casing of a pipe, electric conduit or water-level
measuring device.
ZONE OF SATURATION
The zone below the water table in which all interstices are
filled with groundwater.
General: When major alterations are made to wells and boreholes regulated by this code, these alterations shall conform to §§
217-11 and
217-12 with the following modifications.
A. Existing non-grouted wells and boreholes. If major alterations are made to an existing well or boring which is not grouted with an approved grout, then the following measures may be taken in lieu of the grouting requirements of §§
217-11 and
217-12.
(1) Remove soil from the uppermost two feet of the casing to a diameter
of no less than one foot outside the existing casing.
(2) Fill the exposed annular space with an approved grout to grade.
(3) Place a compacted earth mound around the well casing. The compacted
earth mound shall be no less than six inches high and shall extend
no less than one foot away from the casing in all directions. The
purpose of the compacted earth mound is to divert surface water away
from the well, so the compacted earth mound shall be non-erodible.
B. This exception applies only to wells and/or borings that were in
existence prior to the effective date of this chapter.
General: Cross-connections between an individual or semipublic
water supply and a public water system shall be prohibited.
General: No well or borehole regulated by this chapter shall
be used until compliance with this chapter has been obtained. The
fine for violations of this chapter shall be as determined by the
Board of Supervisors of Potter Township.
General: Approval of this application and issuance of a permit
for a well and/or boring on the above-described property does not
constitute any guarantee or warranty by Potter Township regarding
quantity or quality of water that may be obtained as a result of any
well drilled under this permit. The approved permit solely provides
the approval to drill a well and/or boring at the site shown on the
application, and does not provide any other guarantees, approvals,
or warranties.