The Sanitary Control Area

The first component of a wellhead protection area is the protective area required by WAC 246-290-135 (sanitary control area). This area is typically defined as a 100-foot radius and should already be tightly controlled by the public water supply to minimize any direct contamination at the wellhead. It should be managed to reduce the possibility of surface flows reaching the wellhead and traveling down the casing. All public water systems are encouraged to have a wellhouse or a fenced area around each wellhead. This helps protect individual wells from any direct introduction of contaminants.

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