Guide · Borehole vs wellpointBorehole or wellpoint? Which one you need.
Both pull water from the ground under your property, but they reach very different water. Here’s how they compare, and how to tell which one suits your property in Durban and KZN.
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01
The difference
Wellpoint
A pipe with a screened tip jetted or driven into sandy ground, drawing on the shallow water table a few metres down. A pump at the surface sucks the water up, which only works while the water level is within about seven or eight metres of it.
Borehole
A hole drilled into the rock, often tens of metres deep, reaching groundwater held in fractures well below the surface. A submersible pump sits down in the borehole and pushes the water up, so depth isn’t a limit. How we drill a borehole.
02
When a wellpoint can work
A wellpoint needs deep, sandy ground and a high water table, which is why you see them on some sandy coastal plots. It’s a cheaper way to water a garden, and that’s usually what it’s used for.
The trade-offs come from being shallow. The water table near the surface rises and falls with the rain, so wellpoints can slow down or dry up in a dry spell. Shallow water is also closer to whatever soaks into the ground, and often carries iron that stains paving and pools, so it’s rarely suitable for drinking without treatment.
03
When you need a borehole
In clay or rock, as across Pinetown, Westville, Kloof and Hillcrest, a wellpoint simply isn’t an option: there’s no shallow sand to draw from. A borehole is the only way to reach groundwater there.
A borehole is also the answer if you want to run the house, supply animals or a business, keep going through a drought, or drink the water. Deep groundwater is steadier through the seasons and better protected from the surface. It costs more upfront, for the reasons in our borehole cost guide.
“We live in a rural area and weren’t sure about drilling here, but Ekhaya Projects delivered. Fantastic pressure and clear water.”
Questions, answered
Common questions
Is a wellpoint cheaper than a borehole?
Yes, a wellpoint usually costs much less, because it’s shallow and needs no drilling rig. But it only works in sandy ground with a high water table, gives less water, and is more likely to dry up in a dry spell.
Can I drink wellpoint water?
Not without testing, and usually not without treatment. Shallow water is more exposed to contamination from the surface and often carries iron. Borehole water also needs testing, but deep groundwater is better protected.
Can I have a wellpoint in Kloof or Hillcrest?
Usually not. Wellpoints need deep sand and a shallow water table, and the Upper Highway is mostly rock. Properties there need a borehole drilled into the rock.
My wellpoint has dried up. What now?
A borehole reaches water far below the level a wellpoint draws from. Kelvin can survey your property and tell you where a borehole should go and what it would take.
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