How Much Borehole Water Can You Legally Use in South Africa

One of the most common questions South African homeowners ask before drilling a borehole is also one of the most misunderstood. How much borehole water am I legally allowed to use?

At first glance, it sounds like there should be a simple answer. A neat daily limit. A national litre cap. A clear household allowance. Something like, “You may use X litres per day before you need permission.”

However, South African water law does not work that way.

The legal position depends on the purpose of the water use, the scale of abstraction, the location of the property, the stress on the catchment, the cumulative impact on the resource, and whether the water is being used for ordinary domestic purposes, commercial activity, agriculture, shared supply or resale.

This is why two properties may both have boreholes, yet fall into very different legal categories. A suburban homeowner using borehole water for a house, garden and occasional pool top-up is not in the same position as a lodge, smallholding, estate, dairy operation or business selling tanker loads of water.

The mistake many people make is assuming that owning land, drilling a borehole or paying for the equipment gives them unrestricted control over the groundwater below the property.

It does not. In South Africa, water is treated as a national resource. The borehole may be on private land, but the water resource itself is regulated in the public interest.

Under the National Water Act, water use includes taking water from a water resource and storing water.

The Act also makes it clear that a water use generally needs to be licensed unless it is allowed under Schedule 1, qualifies as an existing lawful use, falls under a General Authorisation, or is authorised by aWater Use Licence.

For borehole owners, that creates three main practical categories: Schedule 1 use, General Authorisation and Water Use Licence territory.

Schedule 1 is the domestic safety zone, but it is not a free-for-all

Schedule 1 is where most ordinary homeowners fall.

It allows a person to take water for reasonable domestic use in their household from a water resource to which they have lawful access. It also allows water use on land owned or occupied by that person for reasonable domestic use, small gardening that is not for commercial purposes, and the watering of animals, excluding feedlots, that graze within the grazing capacity of that land. Importantly, Schedule 1 also says the use must not be excessive in relation to the capacity of the water resource and the needs of other users.

That last part matters.

Schedule 1 does not give a homeowner unlimited water simply because the use feels domestic. It protects normal domestic use. It does not protect wasteful abstraction, heavy commercial irrigation dressed up as “gardening”, livestock operations, feedlots, accommodation businesses, water resale, or shared schemes that draw large volumes from a single borehole.

In practical terms, a normal household using borehole water for toilets, showers, laundry, cleaning, garden watering and limited outdoor use will usually remain within Schedule 1.

The law does not publish one national litre figure for every domestic borehole because domestic needs differ between urban homes, smallholdings, rural properties, climate zones and property sizes.

However, we can still apply common sense.

South African domestic water consumption is often reported at around 218 to 237 litres per person per day, depending on the source and method used. Government’s own public information has cited 218 litres per person per day, while ministerial and policy discussions have also cited 237 litres per person per day.

For a four-person household, that works out to roughly 870 to 950 litres per day before allowing for a garden, leaks, pools or unusually heavy use. Even with outdoor use, many suburban households remain far below the levels that usually trigger more formal scrutiny.

The grey area begins when the water use no longer looks like normal household use.

That can happen when a property has large-scale irrigation, several dwellings, tenants, guest accommodation, business activity, event facilities, livestock beyond ordinary smallholding use, or a borehole supplying neighbouring properties. The question then changes from “Is this domestic?” to “What is the total abstraction, what is the purpose, and what impact could it have?”

The 10 m³ per day reference point needs proper context

Many people hear that 10 m³ per day is the magic borehole number.

It is not a universal permission limit.

The 10 m³ per day figure is important because the General Authorisation for taking and storing water states that a person taking more than 10 cubic metres of groundwater per day, averaged over a year, must register the water use with the responsible authority.

To understand that figure properly:

• 10 m³ per day equals 10,000 litres per day.
• Over a 30-day month, that is about 300,000 litres.
• Over a year, it is about 3.65 million litres.
• If pumped evenly over 24 hours, it equals roughly 417 litres per hour.

That is not an extreme pumping rate in mechanical terms, but as a daily average it is far higher than normal household use.

For perspective, 10,000 litres per day could supply around 40 to 45 people at the commonly cited South African per-person consumption figures.

Put differently, it could supply several average households, depending on the size of each household and the level of outdoor use.

This is why shared boreholes can become legally sensitive.

A single home using 1,000 to 2,000 litres per day is one thing. Ten homes using one borehole can quickly become 8,000 to 12,000 litres per day. Twenty homes can move far beyond that. Even if each individual family sees its use as domestic, the borehole itself is abstracting water at a cumulative scale.

That is where many estates, sectional title complexes, rental clusters and small developments misunderstand the issue. The law is not only interested in the intention of each user. It also looks at the total water taken from the resource.

General Authorisation is not a loophole

General Authorisation sits between Schedule 1 and a full Water Use Licence.

It allows certain water uses without going through a full licensing process, provided the use remains within the volumes, rates, locations and conditions set out in the authorisation. It is conditional permission, not a blanket exemption.

The current General Authorisation for taking and storing water is issued under section 39 of the National Water Act. It applies broadly, but not without limits. For groundwater, the permitted volume depends on factors such as the property size, abstraction rate and the calculation method set out in the relevant appendices.

It also places an upper limit of 40,000 m³ per year on groundwater taken under that authorisation on a property.

There are also location-based exclusions. For example, the General Authorisation excludes certain abstraction close to wetlands, estuaries, riparian areas, state dams, state dam walls and the high-water mark of the ocean.

This means a user cannot simply say, “I am under 10 m³ per day, therefore I am fine,” or “I am below 40,000 m³ per year, therefore I need nothing else.”

The location, catchment, use type, abstraction rate and registration requirements still matter.

The General Authorisation also includes monitoring conditions. A groundwater user taking water at more than 2 litres per second must measure and record the volume taken, with records kept for at least five years and made available to officials on request.

That is a major practical point for borehole owners. Flow rate and total volume are not the same thing. A pump may have a high flow rate but operate only briefly, or it may have a modest flow rate but run for long periods.

Both the pumping rate and the daily, monthly and annual total matter.

When a Water Use Licence may become necessary

A Water Use Licence becomes relevant when the proposed water use falls outside Schedule 1 and cannot be accommodated under General Authorisation.

This is more likely where the use involves large-scale irrigation, commercial agriculture, industrial activity, large developments, bulk supply, multiple properties, water resale, or abstraction that may affect other users or the aquifer.

A licence process is not just paperwork.

It can require technical motivation, hydrogeological input, environmental assessment, catchment consideration and engagement with the Department of Water and Sanitation or the responsible authority.

The decision may consider the volume requested, the available resource, existing lawful users, sustainability, equity, environmental impact and broader water-resource management concerns.

For a normal homeowner, this level of authorisation is usually not required. For farms, lodges, estates, factories, developers and commercial operators, it should be assessed before the system is installed or expanded.

Garden irrigation is where many people underestimate volume

Domestic gardening is recognised under Schedule 1, provided it remains small gardening and is not for commercial purposes.

But garden water use can climb faster than people realise.

A modest lawn and garden may use a few thousand litres per week during dry periods. That may still sit comfortably within a domestic context. A large property with automated sprinklers, thirsty lawn areas, ornamental landscaping and regular pool top-ups may push daily use much higher.

The turning point is not whether the water is going onto grass, trees or vegetables.

The turning point is scale, purpose and impact.

A homeowner watering a garden is not the same as a person irrigating hectares of crops, running a nursery, maintaining commercial landscaping, growing produce for sale, or using borehole water as part of an income-generating activity.

The law’s reference to “small gardening not for commercial purposes” is important. Once the water supports commercial production, it should no longer be treated as ordinary domestic garden use.

Livestock watering is allowed only within limits

Schedule 1 allows water for animals, but not without boundaries. It specifically excludes feedlots and refers to animals grazing within the grazing capacity of the land.

This distinction is important for smallholdings and farms.

A few animals kept on a property for ordinary smallholding purposes may fall comfortably within Schedule 1. A feedlot, dairy operation, poultry operation, intensive livestock facility or commercial animal-production system is different.

The more intensive the operation becomes, the less likely it is to remain ordinary Schedule 1 use.

The same applies when borehole water is used to irrigate fodder crops, support commercial grazing, wash facilities, supply staff housing, or maintain large-scale agricultural production.

The legal question is not simply, “Are animals drinking the water?” It is, “What is the scale and purpose of the abstraction?”

Selling borehole water changes the legal picture

Selling water is one of the clearest turning points.

A homeowner using borehole water at home is very different from a person filling tankers, selling water to neighbours, bottling water, supplying businesses, or charging tenants separately for borehole supply.

Once water is commercialised, Schedule 1 assumptions become unsafe.

Even if the daily volume looks modest, the purpose of use has changed. At that point, the borehole owner should obtain proper advice on whether the use requires registration, a General Authorisation pathway, municipal approval, a Water Use Licence, or another form of approval.

The same caution applies where one borehole supplies multiple properties.

A neighbourly arrangement may seem harmless, but supply across property boundaries, payment arrangements and cumulative abstraction can shift the legal position.

Municipal rules can still apply

National water law is not the only layer to consider.

Municipal by-laws, water-services rules and local alternative-water-source requirements may also apply. Some municipalities require boreholes or alternative water systems to be registered, approved or inspected, especially where there is any connection risk between borehole water and municipal plumbing.

The City of Cape Town, for example, has specific processes for applying to sink a borehole or wellpoint and for registering a borehole or wellpoint after it has been sunk.

This is why borehole owners should check both national water-use requirements and local municipal rules.

The Department of Water and Sanitation deals with water-resource authorisation. Municipalities may deal with local water services, plumbing safety, cross-connection risk, signage, restrictions, stormwater, wastewater and public-health issues.

A borehole can therefore be acceptable under one layer of rules but still need attention under another.

Legal use does not mean the borehole can sustain the demand

This is the part many borehole owners overlook.

Legal authorisation and sustainable yield are not the same thing.

A borehole may be legally used for domestic purposes, but the aquifer, fracture system or borehole construction may not support aggressive pumping. If the pump is oversized, run too often or operated without regard to recovery time, the borehole can begin to fail even when the user believes they are legally compliant.

Common signs of over-abstraction or poor borehole management include falling water levels, pump cavitation, sand ingress, cloudy water, increased iron or manganese, reduced flow, burnt pumps, air in the line, and seasonal failure during dry periods.

For example, a borehole may have a sustainable yield of 800 litres per hour.

That does not mean it should be pumped at 3,000 litres per hour because the pump can do it. The pump must be matched to the tested yield, recovery rate, water level, borehole depth and intended storage system.

A legally compliant household can still destroy a poorly managed borehole through bad pumping practice.

This is why yield testing, pump sizing, storage tanks, float switches, dry-run protection and sensible irrigation scheduling are not just technical extras. They protect the borehole investment.

Borehole water used for drinking must be tested

Another legal and practical issue is water quality.

Borehole water is not automatically safe to drink because it is clear, cold or drawn from underground. Groundwater can contain bacteria, nitrates, iron, manganese, salts, hardness, fluoride, sulphates, heavy metals or other contaminants depending on geology, sanitation systems, nearby agriculture, industry and surface-water ingress.

South Africa uses SANS 241 as the benchmark for drinking-water quality. National norms and standards refer to SANS 241 and updated versions for potable drinking-water quality, and water supplied to households should be tested according to appropriate requirements.

For a private homeowner, this means drinking borehole water should never be based on appearance alone.

Testing should be done through a reputable laboratory, ideally before human consumption and then periodically thereafter.

At a minimum, borehole water intended for drinking should be tested for microbiological safety and key chemical parameters.

Where babies, elderly people, immune-compromised people or guests are involved, the safety margin should be higher.

What happens if you exceed authorised use

The consequences depend on the facts.

A small homeowner slightly misunderstanding domestic use is not in the same risk category as a commercial operator abstracting large volumes without authorisation. However, the National Water Act does create enforcement powers and offences for non-compliance.

The Act provides for offences where a person fails to comply with conditions attached to a permitted water use, fails to comply with directives, gives false or misleading information when required, fails to register an existing lawful water use when required, pollutes or is likely to pollute a water resource, or detrimentally affects a water resource.

Penalties may include fines or imprisonment, depending on the offence and whether it is a repeat conviction.

In practical terms, enforcement may involve instructions to register, requests for information, metering requirements, directives, orders to reduce use, licence enforcement, administrative action, or legal proceedings in serious cases.

Risk increases where there is commercial use, high abstraction, neighbour complaints, drought stress, catchment pressure, environmental impact, pollution risk, or misleading information supplied to authorities.

A realistic borehole-use comparison

These figures are not legal thresholds. They are practical guideposts to help property owners understand scale.

Use scenario	Approximate daily use	Likely legal position
Small household using borehole water indoors only	500 to 1,000 litres	Usually Schedule 1
Four-person household with normal garden use	1,000 to 3,000 litres	Usually Schedule 1
Large household with extensive irrigation	3,000 to 8,000 litres	Often still domestic, but should be monitored
Shared borehole supplying several dwellings	5,000 to 12,000 litres	May approach registration or authorisation issues
Estate, lodge or rental cluster	10,000 litres and above	Needs proper legal assessment
Small-scale commercial irrigation	10,000 to 50,000 litres	General Authorisation or licence assessment likely
Farm, commercial agriculture or industrial use	50,000 litres and above	Water Use Licence may be required depending on circumstances
Selling water or bulk supply	Any meaningful recurring volume	Schedule 1 assumptions no longer safe

The practical rule for homeowners

For most normal South African homeowners, the answer is reassuring.

If you are using a borehole for your own household, your own garden and ordinary non-commercial domestic purposes, you are usually operating within Schedule 1. You generally do not need a Water Use Licence for that kind of use.

But that does not mean you can abstract without limits, ignore neighbours, pump the borehole dry, connect it carelessly to municipal plumbing, sell water, supply multiple properties, or run a commercial operation under the banner of “domestic use”.

The safest way to think about borehole legality is this:

Use it like a household and you are usually in domestic territory. Use it like a business, farm, estate or bulk supply system and you need to assess authorisation properly.

Use it in a way that affects the aquifer, other users or the environment and legality becomes only one part of the problem.

You must remember, there is no single national litre cap that applies to every private borehole in South Africa.

The real dividing line is purpose, volume, location, cumulative impact and risk.

A normal household using a borehole responsibly is generally within the Schedule 1 domestic-use space.

A larger property, shared borehole, commercial operation, agricultural setup, guest facility or water resale model may need registration, General Authorisation compliance or a Water Use Licence.

For anyone planning more than ordinary household use, the responsible approach is to confirm the position before drilling, expanding irrigation, supplying others or investing in large pumps and storage.

That protects the borehole owner, the aquifer, neighbouring users and the long-term value of the property.

What are your thoughts on this? Let us know below.

Be sure to read: Trusted Borehole Companies in South Africa: How We Vet and Approve Providers