Good news for one group of homeowners in South Africa
The Department of Water and Sanitation has provided written confirmation that ordinary households that use borehole water for “reasonable domestic purposes” do not need to register with the government.
The confirmation follows the publishing of draft regulations to monitor and regulate borehole drilling and groundwater extraction in the country.
Under the proposed rules, all existing borehole owners would have to register their boreholes with the department.
Currently, commercial users are already subject to monitoring and registration requirements, but most homeowners and domestic users are not.
Under the draft regulations, all borehole owners would need to record their details and borehole information in the National Groundwater Archive.
Additionally, anyone planning to drill a new borehole would first need to obtain a geosite identifier before drilling can begin.
The regulations also require drillers and water users to submit drilling data within two months of completing a project.
The department warned at the time of the draft regulations being published that the country faces serious risks if underground water resources are not properly managed.
However, the registration requirements sparked deep concern among civil groups about the burden being placed on households, as well as the fear of prosecution for violating the rules.
According to the Opposition Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), it reached out to the department to clarify the rules for domestic users.
“Many homeowners who depend on boreholes because of unreliable municipal water services believed they could face penalties or even criminal prosecution if they failed to register,” it said.
“South Africans should not have to fear prosecution simply because they installed a borehole to keep water flowing when municipal systems fail.”
However, the department has now clarified and confirmed that most domestic users will be exempt.
Who is exempt from the rules?
According to the department, Schedule 1 of the National Water Act allows certain low-impact water uses without the need for a water-use licence or formal registration.
These include “reasonable domestic household use”, watering a small non-commercial garden, watering livestock within normal grazing limits, harvesting rainwater, using water during emergencies and certain recreational water uses.
However, the exemption only applies where the water use is reasonable and non-commercial.
The department confirmed to OUTA that:
- Households using borehole water for reasonable domestic purposes are exempt from registration.
- Small, non-commercial home gardens irrigated from household boreholes are also exempt.
- There is no prescribed volume threshold for domestic groundwater use. The deciding factor is whether the use is reasonable and non-commercial.
- Domestic users whose water use falls within Schedule 1 cannot be penalised or prosecuted for failing to register.
- The current 90-day registration process does not apply to Schedule 1 domestic users. It applies only to water uses that require registration, including licensed, existing, lawful and general authorised water uses.
- Commercial, agricultural, industrial and other high-volume groundwater users must register with the relevant Catchment Management Agency.
While exempt users are not required to register, the department did encourage households to voluntarily submit technical borehole information to improve groundwater management.
However, this is separate from the legal requirement to register water use.
The DWS also noted that municipal borehole requirements contained in local by-laws remain separate from the National Water Act registration process.
OUTA said the clarification and confirmation have brought much-needed certainty for households.
“This clarification provides long-overdue legal certainty for ordinary households that have invested significant amounts of money simply to secure access to one of life’s basic necessities after repeated municipal water interruptions,” it said.
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