Registering
According to the City of Cape Town, it is important to register your borehole or wellpoint for research and monitoring purposes.
Registering your domestic borehole or wellpoint is optional.
Government regulations
National Government Department of Water and Sanitation gazette new guidelines for all borehole and wellpoint use, effective 12 January 2018 Government Gazette No. 41381 (Vol. 631).
- Borehole/wellpoint water use must be metered, and all users are required to keep records and have these available for inspection.
- Permission from the national Department of Water and Sanitation is needed to sell or buy borehole/wellpoint water.
Permission to sink a borehole or wellpoint?
No, you don't need permission to drill a borehole or a wellpoint. It is also not compulsory to register your borehole. However, should water be found once a borehole has been drilled, it is required to register, depending on the water use.
Water use in terms of the National water act.
Ground water usage will fall under 3 categories.
Schedule 1
- Domestic use for households.
- Small gardening
If a person uses more than 10 kiloliters of groundwater per day (10 000 liters/day) for a ‘non-commercial small garden’, then they are exceeding the limits of Schedule 1, and the water use should be registered.
For ground water uses under schedule 1, means no permission or registration required.
Groundwater volumes above schedule 1, but below general authorization limits.
For ground water uses above schedule 1, but below general authorization means permission and registration is required.
Groundwater volumes above general authorization limits
For ground water uses above general authorization means, license for water use is required.