Rule 3745-81-76 | Water source designation.
(A) Source water which is open to the atmosphere or subject to surface runoff is designated as surface water. Surface water sources include streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, reservoirs, springs, roof collection and impoundments.
(B) Source water which is obtained from a well is designated as ground water unless the director designates the source as surface water.
(C) The director may designate a well as surface water based on information available in Ohio environmental protection agency files about the water source and the water produced from the source, information from on-site sanitary or geological surveys, information supplied by the public water system upon a request from the director, any additional information which becomes available, and the guidelines outlined in the following paragraphs. A public water system shall provide information requested by the director within six months of receipt of a written request. Information requested for each water source may concern water quality, well construction and location, geological information, particulate analysis, Cryptosporidium analysis, Giardia lamblia analysis, E. coli analysis, ground water source samples related to rules 3745-81-41 to 3745-81-43 of the Administrative Code, and other information related to designation of the water source. A well may be designated as surface water if it meets any of the following criteria:
(1) The well does not meet all of the requirements for wells in Chapter 3745-9 of the Administrative Code;
(2) The well obtains water from a site at which rapid pathways or compromised hydrogeologic barriers have been identified; or
(3) If required by the director, analysis shows the annual mean E. coli concentration is greater than or equal to ten E. coli per one hundred milliliters.
(D) The director shall at a minimum consider the following criteria in making a surface water designation for a well:
(1) A well does not meet all of the requirements for wells in Chapter 3745-9 of the Administrative Code;
(2) A well obtains water from a site at which rapid pathways or compromised hydrogeologic barriers have been identified;
(3) A well is cased less than fifteen feet in depth;
(4) A vertical well where the sum of the casing depth plus the horizontal distance to a normal surface water pool is less than forty feet;
(5) A horizontal collector well lateral or infiltration gallery collector pipe less than twenty-five feet below the ground surface;
(6) A horizontal collector well where the sum of the depth of any lateral below grade or stream, lake, reservoir bed plus the horizontal distance measured at the end of any lateral to a normal surface water pool is less than fifty feet; or
(7) An annual mean E. coli concentration equal to or more than ten E. coli colonies per one hundred milliliters based on monitoring of the source.
(E) Assessment source water monitoring as described in paragraph (B) of rule 3745-81-42 of the Administrative Code shall be completed for the source when one of the following conditions exist:
(1) A well is cased between fifteen and twenty-five feet in depth;
(2) A well is located less than fifty feet from a normal water surface;
(3) Infiltration galleries, recharge lagoons or other basins constructed to increase the rate of infiltration are used;
(4) A horizontal collector which meets the criteria in paragraph (D)(5) or (D)(6) of this rule;
(5) Any potential for surface water contamination exists within the approved isolation radius, including but not limited to improperly abandoned wells, leach beds, sanitary or combined sewers, or septic tanks;
(6) Gravity sewers built to water line standards and pressure tested are closer than one third the usually required isolation or if there are manholes on these pressure tested lines within the isolation area;
(7) A well is located in bedrock where the bedrock may be directly connected to surface water such as through fractures or solution features;
(8) A waterborne disease outbreak has been associated with the well; or
(9) Other surface water contamination hazards exist.
(F) Designation of a public water system's water sources as including surface water shall bring this public water system under the requirements of rules 3745-81-64 to 3745-81-69 and 3745-81-71 to 3745-81-75 of the Administrative Code.
(G) Designation of a public water system's water sources as including ground water shall bring this public water system under the requirements of rules 3745-81-41 to 3745-81-45 of the Administrative Code, unless all of the ground water is combined with surface water prior to treatment under rule 3745-81-71 of the Administrative Code.
(H) The director may redesignate a water source as surface water or as ground water at any time that additional information indicates that redesignation is appropriate.
Last updated March 7, 2023 at 12:14 PM
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