§ 19.07.040. Minimum water supply for single-family dwellings

All commercial buildings and dwellings shall be provided a potable water supply system as required by this section. Such system shall also satisfy all applicable requirements of the California Plumbing Code and the San Luis Obispo County Health Department.

(1)

Community System or On Site Well. Subject to the approval of the chief building official, a commercial building or dwelling may be supplied potable water from either:

A public water supply or domestic water system approved by the Health Department or operated by a state licensed water purveyor; or

An on-site well, water storage and delivery system in accordance with this section.

(2)

On-Site Wells. When an on-site well is the proposed potable water supply, a building permit may be issued only where the building site is located outside the service boundary of a community water system, and where the well, together with any on site water storage, satisfies all the following requirements:

a.

Health Department Approval. All water wells shall be designed constructed and shall obtain health department approval as required by Chapter 8.40 of this code.

b.

Minimum Capacity—Residential: A domestic well shall provide a minimum capacity of 5 gallons per minute (GPM) in order to be approved for use as a source of potable water for a single family dwelling. Use of a well with a minimum capacity of 2.5 gallons per minute may be approved by the chief building official where 1000 gallons of approved on site water storage is also provided. (Note: on site water storage for fire protection may also be required by the Land Use Ordinance or, where applicable, the Coastal Zone Land Use Ordinance regardless of the requirements of this section.) A building permit may be issued where use of a well with less capacity than 2.5 gpm is proposed only where authorized by the director of environmental health.

c.

Minimum Capacity—Commercial: A domestic well for commercial use shall provide proof that the on-site wells will meet the demand requirements of the intended use. Unless an engineered design is submitted, each structure shall use Appendix Table K-3 to determine the gallons per day requirements. Outdoor areas used for events shall be sized the same as stores. Storage tanks shall be sized the same as septic tanks. If applicable, additional demand requirements for process water shall be submitted with the construction drawings by the engineer/architect of record (wine processing, industrial processing, etc.).

d.

Testing of Capacity. The capacity required by subsection (2)b. and c. of this section for a residential or commercial domestic well shall be verified by a minimum four hour pump test with drawdown and recovery data by a licensed and bonded well driller or pump testing company. The pump test shall not be more than five years old.

e.

Potability. All residential or commercial domestic water wells intended to provide potable water to residential or commercial buildings shall meet the requirements of the health department for potability.

f.

Testing for Potability. All new residential or commercial uses which use domestic water wells shall test the wells for potability as required by the health department. A report of the potability test shall be submitted and approved by the health department prior to granting temporary or permanent occupancy or final inspection approval of a project.

(Ord. No. 3343, § 1, 12-6-16)