Boreholes 101
The recent water restrictions have brought into sharp focus how
even ‘first world’ cities like Johannesburg are battling to manage
their water resources in a sustainable manner.
By Chantelle Gladwin and Nonhlanhla Ndhlovu
T
o alleviate the pressure on
municipalities to provide
sustainable and quality
municipal services to all residents
within their jurisdictions,
Johannesburg Water and the City
of Johannesburg Metropolitan
Municipality (COJ) are promoting
the use of borehole water as an
alternative to the conventional
m u n i c i p a l s u p p l y. T h e u s e o f
b o r e h o l e s t o s up p l e me n t o r to
replace the conventional municipal
supply is thus becoming more
common, especially in new
developments outside of traditional
city limits.
This article accordingly considers
what authorisations and/or permits
are necessary for the drilling of a
borehole and the use of water from
that borehole.
Although we will focus on the
legal situation in Johannesburg, the
principles that are related below
are similar (but not necessarily
precisely the same) for municipal
jurisdictions.
Do I need any authority or
license to drill a borehole?
The answer depends on where your
property is located. If it is in the
jurisdiction of COJ, then you do need
permission in terms of section 50(1)
of the COJ’s Water Service By-laws,
and if it is in the jurisdiction of
Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality
(EMM), then you would need
permission from the municipality
before you drill in terms of section
85 of the Ekurhuleni Municipality’s
Water Supply By-laws.
You might also be required to give
notice to your municipality that you
are planning to drill a borehole. For
example, section 41 of the COJ’s
Public Health By-laws provide that
persons in Johannesburg need to
give the municipality 14 days’ written
notice of their intention to sink
a borehole.
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If I have an existing
borehole, do I need to
register my borehole with
anyone?
In short, the answer is ‘no’ in relation
to boreholes in the Johannesburg
area, but ‘yes’ within the EMM’s
jurisdiction. However, in both cases,
you need to notify the municipality
of the fact that you draw water from
your borehole. Check with your
municipality to be safe.
Do I need any authority or
license to use water out of
the borehole?
In this instance, the answer is
‘yes’. A person may only use water
without a licence if it is lawfully
permissible. There are three ‘levels’
of usage described in the National
Water Act, 1998 (Act No. 36 of
1998). These ‘levels’ are based on
the amounts of water drawn from
the borehole.
Schedule 1 water use
If your water use is limited to
reasonable domestic (household)
use, which can include small
gardens not used for commercial
purposes, and which also includes
the use of water for grazing animals,
provided that you are not supplying a
feedlot and provided further that the
number of animals on the land do not
exceed the land’s grazing capacity,
then there is no need to register your
water use.
There is no maximum limit set
for the amount of water that can
be used for reasonable domestic
purposes in terms of the Act,
but this Act does give the water
catchment management agency that
operates in the area the power to
stipulate a maximum amount. You
would thus need to check with the
applicable catchment management
agency whether it has set a limit for
your area.
Water Sewage & Effluent January/February 2018
General Authorisation
water use
A person who owns or is lawfully
living on land and is using water
from a groundwater source (that is,
a borehole) can use the amount of
water specified in Table 1.2 of the
General Authorisation published in
Government Notice No. 399, published
in Government Gazette No. 26187
on 26 March 2004 (which is still
applicable today).
The amount that you can use is
measured in cubic metres per annum
and is calculated based on which area
(or ‘zone’) the property is located in,
and the size of the property (measured
in hectares), provided that the water
use concerned does not impact on the
water resource or other people’s land
or water use, is not excessive, and is
not detrimental to other users and the
health and safety of the public.
Essentially, if you are using water
under this General Authorisation, you
only need to register this water use
with the Department of Water and
Sanitation (DWS) if you use more
than 10 cubic metres from a borehole
on any one day, or you store more
than 10 000 cubic metres of water
per property. If your use or storage
capacity is less than this, you do not
need to register.
Licensed use
For all types of uses, and all amounts
of usage not covered by Schedule
1 and the General Authorisation,
you need a water use licence. This
is granted by the DWS after a strict
application process.
Existing lawful water use
If you were using water from your
borehole in the two years before
the Act came into being, then (in the
great majority of cases) you will be
regarded as having an ‘existing lawful
water use’ for as much water as you
were using, provided that you were
using it ‘responsibly’.