40 m home borehole
R36,690
Pumps into a tank at ground level.
| Drilling, 40 m | R11,800 |
| Steel starter casing | R1,500 |
| PVC casing, 40 m | R5,800 |
| Pump for a 40 m hole | R8,800 |
| 5,000-litre tank | R6,940 |
| Lockable steel cover | R1,850 |
Home / Prices
Borehole drilling prices in Limpopo
Borehole drilling costs R290 to R300 a metre on drillers' published price lists near you and across Limpopo (checked 23 September 2026). A 40 m home borehole with casing, a pump, a 5,000-litre tank and a lockable cover adds up to R36,690. A 60 m hole with the tank on a 3.5 m stand and a pressure pump comes to R71,240.
Your plot report appears here
Type your address above and we fly to your plot. Drag the pin to where you want the borehole, and the report updates:
- your borehole estimate, from drillers' price lists near you
- how far down the water stands in the nearest DWS monitoring boreholes
- the likely depth to drill
- the flow DWS maps for your area
- what DWS found in the water nearby
The orange dots on the map are the Department of Water and Sanitation's monitoring boreholes in Limpopo.
How much does borehole drilling cost per metre in Limpopo?
Drilling alone costs R290 to R300 per metre on drillers' published price lists near you and across Limpopo. A 60 m hole therefore costs about R17,400 to R18,000 to drill, before casing, a pump or a tank. Those rates are for ordinary ground. Hard rock and loose, collapsing ground need slower, specialised drilling at a different rate.
To see the price for your own plot, with the water level and likely depth around it, check your address.
What does a complete borehole cost?
Each total below adds up the lines on a Polokwane driller's published price list, checked 23 September 2026. Nothing is estimated. Your quote will change with depth, ground and distance.
60 m with a tank stand
R71,240
Tank raised 3.5 m, with a pressure pump for the house.
| Drilling, 60 m | R17,700 |
| Steel starter casing | R1,500 |
| PVC casing, 60 m | R8,700 |
| Pump for a 60 m hole | R9,800 |
| 5,000-litre tank | R6,940 |
| 3.5 m steel tank stand | R18,000 |
| Installing the stand | R3,800 |
| Lockable steel cover | R1,850 |
| Pressure pump | R2,950 |
100 m farm borehole
R58,500
Drilled, cased and pumping, no tank.
| Drilling, 100 m | R29,500 |
| Steel starter casing | R1,500 |
| PVC casing, 100 m | R14,500 |
| Pump for a 100 m hole | R13,000 |
A Thohoyandou driller publishes a 40 m package at R23,920 that includes the drilling, 6 m of steel casing and a pump. Its own example adds 4 m of extra steel casing (R2,280) for rock found at 10 m and R1,000 transport, for a total of R27,200.
What do casing, pumps and tanks cost?
Casing lines the hole so it doesn't collapse. Steel casing goes from the surface down to solid rock and costs R550 to R570 per metre on the Limpopo lists. PVC casing is used below that, or the whole way down where the driller never finds solid rock, at R140 to R145 per metre. One Polokwane list adds a R1,500 steel starter casing to every hole.
The pump is sized to the depth of the hole, so it gets dearer as you go down. On the same list, installation includes 10 m of cable from the borehole to your electrical connection.
| Depth | Pump | Drilling | PVC casing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 m | R8,000 | R8,850 | R4,350 |
| 40 m | R8,800 | R11,800 | R5,800 |
| 50 m | R9,300 | R14,750 | R7,250 |
| 60 m | R9,800 | R17,700 | R8,700 |
| 70 m | R11,200 | R20,650 | R10,150 |
| 80 m | R11,500 | R23,600 | R11,600 |
| 90 m | R12,200 | R26,550 | R13,050 |
| 100 m | R13,000 | R29,500 | R14,500 |
Storage and the finishing parts on the same list: a 2,500-litre tank costs R4,600, a 5,000-litre tank R6,940, a 3.5 m steel tank stand R18,000 plus R3,800 to install within 30 km of Polokwane, a lockable steel cover R1,850, a pressure pump R2,950 and a standpipe with a tap R950.
Why do borehole quotes differ so much?
- Depth. Every metre is charged, and the pump for a deeper hole costs more. On the Polokwane list, going from 40 m to 60 m adds R9,800 in drilling, casing and pump.
- How far down solid rock starts. Steel casing runs to the rock, so rock at 10 m instead of 6 m adds four metres at R570 on the Thohoyandou list.
- The ground itself. Published packages assume ordinary ground. Hard or collapsing ground means specialised drilling at a different rate.
- Distance. One list charges R1,000 for transport; another prices tank-stand installation only within 30 km of Polokwane.
- What is included. Some quotes stop at a drilled hole. Others include casing, pump, cable, tank and stand. Compare line by line, not total by total.
How deep is the water in Limpopo?
In the Department of Water and Sanitation's monitoring boreholes, water stood a median 14 m below ground across 208 Limpopo boreholes read between July 2025 and June 2026. One in ten was deeper than 39.8 m, and one in ten shallower than 4 m.
| Municipality | Water level below ground | Boreholes read |
|---|---|---|
| Polokwane (Polokwane) | 11.2 m | 27 |
| Mogalakwena (Mokopane) | 7.9 m | 15 |
| Greater Tzaneen (Tzaneen) | 10 m | 5 (few) |
| Thulamela (Thohoyandou) | 3.3 m | 10 |
| Makhado (Louis Trichardt) | 41.6 m | 23 |
That is where water stands in existing holes, not how deep yours must be drilled. A driller goes past the first water to reach enough flow and to sink the pump well below the water level. The published price lists run from 30 m to 100 m.
What if the borehole is dry?
Every Limpopo price list we checked charges drilling by the metre, and none of them promises money back if no water is found. What you should not pay for on a dry hole is a pump, a tank or full-depth casing.
Before you sign, get three things in writing: the depth at which the driller will stop if the hole is dry, what a dry hole costs you, and that casing and pump are only fitted once water is found.
Do you need a siting survey?
A siting survey picks the spot most likely to find water before the rig drills. None of the Limpopo price lists we checked shows a price for it. National price guides put it anywhere from about R3,000 for a desk study using maps and nearby borehole records to R15,000 for an on-site geophysical survey. Ask for it as its own line on the quote.
Should you test the water?
Yes. Of the Limpopo sites the Department of Water and Sanitation has tested, 39% were over the drinking-water limit for nitrate at their latest test, 11% over the limit for fluoride and 19% salty enough to taste. Those sites lean towards villages and monitoring points, and half the samples are from 1993 or earlier, so they don't predict your borehole. They are a good reason to test it once it is drilled. See what DWS found in borehole water around each Limpopo town.
Do you need to register a borehole?
Not for household use. Water for your home and a small garden that isn't commercial falls under Schedule 1 of the National Water Act, which needs no licence or registration. In July 2026 the Department confirmed in writing that its registration drive, opened on 24 April 2026, does not apply to Schedule 1 household use. Commercial use must be registered: the free 90-day window closed on 23 July 2026, and a late fee of R300 per property may now be charged. The borehole registration guide covers who must register and how.
What should a borehole quote include?
- The depth to be drilled and the rate per metre.
- Steel casing: how many metres and the rate, plus PVC casing below it.
- The pump: its size, the depth it is set at, and the length of cable.
- Tank, stand, pressure pump and plumbing, if you want them.
- Transport to your plot.
- A yield test, so you know how much water the hole gives.
- What you pay if the hole is dry, and the depth the driller stops at.
- Whether VAT is included.
Basis for the figures on this page
- Drilling, casing, pump, tank and stand prices: the published price lists of a variety of drillers across Limpopo, all checked 23 September 2026. VAT is not stated on the lists. These are the drillers' own list prices, not quotes from a site visit, and they have not been confirmed by a driller for this page.
- Water levels: Department of Water and Sanitation groundwater level monitoring data to June 2026, supplied on request on 23 September 2026. Median of the latest reading at each Limpopo monitoring borehole read between July 2025 and June 2026.
- Water quality: Department of Water and Sanitation groundwater chemistry data for Limpopo, supplied on request on 23 September 2026 (15,016 samples from 8,691 sites, 1968 to 2025). Latest sample per site, against the SANS 241 drinking-water limits.
- Borehole yield: Department of Water and Sanitation 1:500 000 hydrogeological maps 2127 Messina (2002), 2326 Polokwane (2003) and 2330 Phalaborwa (1999).
- Siting survey range: South African borehole price guides published in 2024 to 2026.
- Registration: Department of Water and Sanitation statement on the 24 April 2026 registration notice, and the Department's July 2026 written confirmation to OUTA on Schedule 1 users.
Questions people ask
How much is borehole drilling per meter?
In Limpopo, drillers' published price lists charge R290 to R300 per metre for drilling alone (checked 23 September 2026). Casing is extra: PVC at about R140 to R145 per metre and steel at R550 to R570 per metre down to solid rock.
How much to drill a borehole in Polokwane?
On a Polokwane driller's list, drilling costs R295 per metre: R11,800 for 40 m, R17,700 for 60 m and R29,500 for 100 m. Drilled, cased and pumping, a 60 m hole comes to R37,700 before a tank.
How much does it cost to drill and install a borehole in South Africa?
In Limpopo, a complete home borehole with casing, pump and a 5,000-litre tank starts at about R36,690 for 40 m on published list prices, and a 60 m hole with the tank on a 3.5 m stand and a pressure pump comes to R71,240. Published rates in parts of Gauteng run higher.
Do I need a permit to drill a borehole?
Not for household use. Taking borehole water for your home and a small garden that isn't commercial falls under Schedule 1 of the National Water Act, which needs no licence and no registration. Commercial use must be registered with the Department of Water and Sanitation. Some municipalities also have their own by-laws, so ask the driller before the rig arrives.
How many litres of water can a borehole produce per day?
It depends on the rock under your plot. On the Department of Water and Sanitation's hydrogeological maps, two-thirds of Limpopo (67% of the mapped area) shows a median borehole yield of 0.5 to 2 litres per second, which is 1,800 to 7,200 litres an hour while the pump runs. About 10% is mapped below 0.5 litres per second and 23% above 2. Those medians leave out dry holes. Only a yield test on your own borehole tells you what it can give.
In short
- Drilling: R290 to R300 per metre on Limpopo price lists (23 September 2026).
- A 40 m home borehole with casing, pump and a 5,000-litre tank: R36,690.
- A 60 m borehole with the tank on a 3.5 m stand and a pressure pump: R71,240.
- Median water level in Limpopo's DWS monitoring boreholes: 14 m.
- Test the water after drilling, and get the dry-hole terms in writing before you sign.