The recent rainfall in Springs, although much needed and appreciated, couldn’t quite curb the water shortage.
With the water restrictions put in place by the Ekurhuleni Metro, residents wanted to know if these restrictions apply to borehole water as well.
Themba Gadebe, spokesman for the metro, says permission to drill a borehole is granted by the metro as per the municipal by-law.
“It is not clear if there is a requirement to register a borehole with the Department of Water Affairs (DWA) before drilling, however, no registration is required if it falls under schedule one uses, which are classified as domestic use,” he says.
If the groundwater is not for domestic use, it will fall under general authorisation or compulsory licensing.
Any groundwater use above schedule one use must be registered.
“Before an individual sinks a borehole there is no determined yield and, therefore, no requirement to register with the DWA until the yield is determined, which will then influence the registration requirements,” Gadebe explained
The metro prohibits drilling in dolomitic areas.
The first step before drilling a borehole is to compile a short hydro-geological prospecting report, together with an application to the metro.
“After drilling and yield determination, the customer will be required to register the borehole with DWA, unless the borehole falls under schedule one,” says Gadebe.
He adds that if all requirements set by both DWA and the metro are met, there will be no restrictions on using the borehole, unless there is a requirement to limit abstraction to the safe yield of the borehole, as determined from the pump test.
Safe yield of a borehole is determined using various tests, primarily constant pump testing or step up pump testing.
Water is abstracted from a borehole, thus lowering the water level.
The water level in the abstraction borehole and the pumping rate are monitored over time, along with various other parameters if possible (such as water levels in observation boreholes).
The way in which the water levels respond to the pumping is then analysed, to derive information about the performance characteristics of the borehole and the hydraulic properties of the aquifer, an underground layer of water-bearing materials.
These tests are used to determine how much water the borehole yields.
Groundwater levels and pumping rates measured during pumping tests provide some indication of the behaviour or state of the groundwater system.
