Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0400-45-09-.01
"Abandoned well" means any well that has permanently been discontinued from further use. A well shall be declared abandoned when the pump has been disconnected or removed for reasons other than repair or replacement or when the well is in such a state of disrepair that continued use for the purpose intended is impracticable.
"Abandonment" means the act of properly sealing an abandoned well.
"Act" means the Water Wells Act of 1963 as amended (T.C.A. §§ 69-10-101 et seq.)
"Animal pen" means an enclosed area one-half (1/2) acre or less where ten or more animals congregate for feeding and watering where vegetation or ground cover has been destroyed or is missing and the area is covered with manure or mud.
"Aquifer" means a geologic formation, a group of such formations, or a part of a formation that will yield usable quantities of water to wells.
"Artesian" means ground water confined under sufficient hydrostatic pressure to rise above the aquifer containing it.
"Beneficial Use" means application of a resource to a purpose that produces economic or other benefits, tangible or intangible, economic or otherwise, such as procurement of water for domestic, industrial, or agricultural use or for a municipal water supply.
"Bentonite" means a clay derived from volcanic ash consisting of at least 85% montmorillonite. Bentonite is available in the following forms:
"Board" means Board of Ground Water Management.
"Borehole" means the cylindrical opening created by the action of a drill or auger as it penetrates the subsurface.
"Casing" means pipe or tubing, constructed of specified materials and having 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.
"Certificate" means a written or printed statement or decal issued by the Department to the licensee which assigns a license number and license type to the license holder.
"Closed loop geothermal borehole" means a cylindrical opening created by the action of a drill or auger as it penetrates the subsurface greater than twenty feet in depth used to either extract or transfer heat from the earth for heating or cooling. This is also referred to as a geothermal well in the T.C.A. § 69-10-101 et seq.
"Closed Loop Installer" means a person who installs and grouts droplines or closed loops in closed loop geothermal boreholes. This may also be referred to as a looper.
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Environment and Conservation, the Commissioner's duly authorized representative and, in the event of his absence or a vacancy in the office of Commissioner, the Deputy Commissioner of Environment and Conservation.
"Completion date of well" means the date that drilling equipment leaves or is removed from the well site. For closed loop geothermal borehole systems, the completion date of the borehole shall be the date of the drilling equipment is removed from the property.
"Completion of drilling" means the date that drilling equipment leaves or is removed from the well site. For closed loop geothermal boreholes, the completion of drilling shall be the date that the drilling equipment is removed from the property.
"Consolidated rock" means rock that is firm and coherent, solidified or cemented, such as granite, gneiss, limestone, slate or sandstone, which has not been decomposed by weathering.
"Contamination" means the act of introducing into water foreign materials of such nature, quality, and quantity as to cause degradation of the quality of the water.
"Department" means the Department of Environment and Conservation.
"Director" means the Director of the Tennessee Division of Water Resources.
"Domestic use" means the use of water for drinking, bathing, or culinary purposes.
"Drill" means to dig, drill, re-drill, construct, deepen or alter a well.
"Driller" means any person with knowledge and skill gained through practical experience in drilling operations who manages or supervises the digging, drilling, or redrilling of a well or borehole.
"Dropline" in the context of closed loop geothermal boreholes means the u-bend closed loop piping material placed in a closed loop borehole to circulate a liquid to transmit heat to a geothermal exchange unit. In the context of water wells the "dropline" means the piping which conveys water obtained from the water well to land surface.
"Employee" means a person hired by the license holder under the Act to work for wages or salary where the license holder has submitted for such person, a notarized affidavit of supervision.
"Experience" means the skill and knowledge derived from the actual direct participation and practice gained in a specific occupation. For drillers, experience includes the skill and knowledge gained in operating drilling equipment to drill and construct a well or closed loop geothermal borehole. For installers, experience includes the skill, knowledge and actual direct participation in determining the equipment required and installing equipment either in or on wells or closed loop geothermal boreholes. Such skill and knowledge must qualify the individual to deal with circumstances and problems that may be encountered by an occupation.
"Geothermal well" means a hole drilled into the earth, by boring or otherwise, greater than twenty feet in depth constructed for the primary purpose of adding or removing British Thermal Units (BTU) from the earth for heating or cooling. This is also referred to as a closed loop geothermal borehole.
"Grout" means a stable, impervious, minimum shrinkage bonding material that is capable of producing a watertight seal required to protect against the intrusion of contamination.
"Inactive well" means any well not in use and does not have functioning equipment, including bailers, associated either in or attached to the well.
"Installation of pumps" means the procedure employed in the placement and preparation for operation of pumps and pumping equipment in water wells, including all construction involved in making entrances to the well and establishing seals.
"Installer" means any person who installs or repairs well pumps or who installs filters or water treatment devices.
"Liner casing" means pipe that is installed inside a completed and cased well for the purpose of sealing off undesirable water or for repairing ruptured or punctured casing or screens.
"Log" means a record of the consolidated or unconsolidated formations penetrated in the drilling of a well, and includes general information concerning construction of a well.
"Monitoring well" means a hole drilled into the earth, by boring or otherwise, constructed for the primary purpose of obtaining information on the elevation or physical, chemical, radiological or biological characteristics of the ground water and/or for the recovery of ground water for treatment.
"Overburden" means unconsolidated earth material that overlies consolidated rock material.
"Open loop borehole" means a water well designed to produce source water above land surface to provide heat transfer to a geothermal unit.
"Person" means any individual, organization, group, association, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, utility district, state or local government agency or any combination of them.
"Pit" means a cavity or hole in the ground, the bottom of which is below the level of the surrounding turf.
"Pitless Adapter" or "pitless unit" means a device specifically manufactured for the purpose of allowing a below ground lateral connection between a well and its plumbing appurtenances.
"Potable water" means water that is not brackish or saline and does not contain total coliform bacteria or chemical constituents in such quantity or type as to render the water unsafe, harmful or generally unsuitable for human consumption.
"Production of water" means withdrawing water from the ground for beneficial use.
"Pumps and pumping equipment" means any equipment or materials utilized or intended for use in withdrawing or obtaining ground water, including well seals in a water well. Closed loops or droplines installed in closed loop geothermal boreholes are not considered pumping equipment.
"Recovery well" means any well constructed for the purpose of removing contaminated groundwater or other liquids from the subsurface.
"Repair" means work involved in deepening, reaming, sealing, installing, or changing casing depths, perforating, screening, or cleaning, acidizing, or redevelopment of a well excavation, or any other work which results in breaking or opening a well seal.
"Standard Dimension Ratio (SDR)" means the quotient obtained when the outside diameter of thermoplastic well casing is divided by the wall thickness.
"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.
"Supervision" means the act of directing and managing full or part time unlicensed employees engaged in the business of constructing wells, or installing pumps, closed loops in closed loop geothermal boreholes or installing water treatment devices on wells.
"Water Treatment Equipment" means any equipment, devices or filters utilized in altering the characteristics or quality of ground water for its intended use.
"Water Well" means a hole drilled into the earth, by boring or otherwise, for the production of water.
"Well" means one of the three types of holes in the earth: geothermal well, a monitoring well, or a water well.
"Well closure" means the act of backfilling and sealing a well either active or abandoned in accordance with well abandonment standards.
"Well construction" means all acts necessary to construct a well including, but not limited to the location and excavation of the borehole; placement of casings, screens and fittings; development and testing.
"Well development" means the procedures used to remove mud or fine material from the drilled borehole, to correct any damage to the aquifer that occurred during drilling a water well and to improve the water passageways into the well from the aquifer.
"Well driller" means an individual, firm or corporation engaged in the business of constructing wells.
"Wellhead" means the upper terminal of the well including adapters, ports, valves, seals, and other attachments.
"Well owner" means the person who owns the real property on which a well exists or is to be drilled provided however, in the case of any monitoring well or remediation required by the Department or the Commissioner, the well owner shall be the person responsible for such monitoring or remediation.
"Well seal" means an approved arrangement or device used to cap a well or to establish and maintain a junction between the casing of a well and the piping or equipment installed therein, the purpose or function of which is to prevent pollutants from entering the well at the upper terminal.
Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0400-45-09-.01
Authority: T.C.A. §§ 69-10-101 et seq. and 4-5-201 et seq.