LISTEN | Drilling for water at your Joburg home? Here's what you need to know

The illegal drilling of boreholes within the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) could have dire impacts. 

This was brought to light  after recent illegal borehole drilling on a private property in Killarney which led to the suspension of Gautrain services between Park Station and Rosebank. 

The services were suspended as water and soil were seeping into the tunnel section of the system.

Gautrain CEO Tshepo Kgobe told TimesLIVE the tunnel is about 50m below the ground. He said drilling for the borehole continued until about 45m when drillers hit the tunnel.

He said the cost of repairs was about R1m for the portion affected. He said calculations for the full cost were complex as there are penalties to be charged. 

“The cost is not only about the repairs. It is also about how much money we have lost over the past few days. There are penalties we are going to charge.”

What do you need to know before you dig a borehole for water?

The CoJ department of development planning confirmed drilling boreholes on residential property is subject to provisions in the city’s Land Use Scheme (LUS).

The following must be obtained: 

• Consent requirement: You need to obtain written consent from the COJ before drilling a borehole. This is stipulated in the COJ’s LUS .
• As part of the application process, comments from the city's engineering and environmental infrastructure service departments are required to ascertain the proposed borehole will not have any detrimental impact on existing infrastructure.
• The city does not consider or approve borehole applications in areas that are dolomitic, as listed in the COJ`s LUS.
• You must provide the municipality with 14 days' written notice of your intention to drill a borehole, as required by the COJ’s health bylaws.
• City spokesperson Virgil James said the National Water Act specifies you may need a licence to use water from a borehole, depending on the amount of water abstracted. He said for reasonable domestic use, a licence may not be necessary. 

“The regulations ensure borehole drilling is conducted safely and sustainably. There may be hidden infrastructure that could be damaged or a sinkhole appearing,” James said.

The planning department cautioned residents against making uninformed decisions which can be very costly and to avoid being exploited by unscrupulous companies. 

Boreholes are regulated by the department of water and sanitation under the National Water Act.

Regulations specify a permit is required from the department of water and sanitation and city approval is required before drilling a borehole, specially for those used for commercial purposes.

If the borehole is for domestic use, city approval alone suffices and permits or consent must be obtained before drilling work can begin. 

In some cases, a hydrogeological study must be conducted by a registered hydrogeologist before drilling. The study is used to determine the water potential in the area and to assess the potential impact of the borehole on the surrounding environment. 

Boreholes can only be used for specific purposes as defined by the department of water and sanitation, such as domestic use, commercial use and monitoring purposes (for example filling station boreholes).

The department of water and sanitation requires regular monitoring of boreholes and submission of reports on water levels, water quality and borehole maintenance. When a borehole is no longer in use, it must be properly rehabilitated to prevent contamination of surrounding groundwater. 

The department and city may impose restrictions on the drilling and use of boreholes in certain areas to protect the environment and preserve water resources.

TimesLIVE