A drilled borehole is a hole in the ground with water in it. Borehole installation is everything that turns it into a supply you can actually use: the pump, the pipework, the electrical work, the controls, the storage and the connection into whatever the water is feeding.
This is the stage where most of the long-term performance is decided. Drilling determines what is available; installation determines how reliably you get it, how much you spend running it, and how much maintenance it will need. A well-drilled borehole with a badly matched system underperforms, and a modest borehole with a properly designed system can serve a property perfectly well for years.
Already have a borehole? Send the yield test result and what the water needs to supply.
Request an Installation QuoteWhat a Complete Borehole Installation Includes
Scope varies with the property and the intended use, but a full installation generally covers:
- Submersible pump, sized against the tested yield and the total head the system has to overcome
- Rising main from the pump to surface, in a material and pressure class suited to the depth
- Submersible cable rated for continuous immersion, sized for the run length and motor current
- Safety rope or support line so the pump can be retrieved without relying on the pipework
- Headworks - the sealed borehole cap, discharge connection, non-return valve and isolation valve
- Electrical supply and protection, including the control box, isolator, overload and earth leakage protection
- Dry-run protection, which stops the pump before it damages itself if the water level drops
- Storage tank where the system buffers supply, with level control and overflow
- Pressure system where the water feeds fixtures or irrigation directly and needs consistent pressure
- Filtration or treatment where the water analysis calls for it
- Distribution pipework to irrigation, tanks, buildings or points of use
- Commissioning, testing and handover, with the settings and as-built details recorded
Two Ways to Configure a Borehole System
Almost every installation is built around one of two arrangements, and the choice has real consequences for cost, reliability and how the borehole behaves.
| Direct pressure system | Pump-to-tank system |
|---|---|
| The submersible pump feeds the point of use directly, maintaining pressure on demand. | The submersible pump fills a storage tank, and a separate booster pump draws from the tank. |
| Fewer components and a lower installed cost. | More components, higher installed cost, more space required. |
| The pump starts and stops with every demand, so cycling is higher. | The borehole pump runs in longer, less frequent cycles, which is easier on the motor. |
| Output is limited to what the borehole can deliver at that moment. | Stored volume covers short peaks that exceed the borehole yield. |
| No buffer if the pump or power fails. | Stored water remains available during a power outage or pump fault. |
| Draws harder on the borehole during peak demand. | Abstraction is spread out over the day, which suits a modest sustainable yield. |
Where the tested yield is lower than peak demand - which is common on domestic properties with irrigation - a tank-based system is usually the better answer, because it lets a modest borehole serve a demand it could never meet instantaneously.
Sizing the System Against the Borehole
The single most important input to an installation design is the yield test result. Without it, pump selection is guesswork, and the usual failure mode is a pump that is too powerful for the hole. An oversized pump draws the water level down to the pump intake, runs dry, cycles on its protection and eventually fails - while the borehole itself was never the problem.
Design therefore works from the borehole outward:
- 1Establish sustainable yield and the pumping water level from the test data.
- 2Quantify demand - daily volume, peak flow rate, and when peaks occur.
- 3Reconcile the two. Where demand exceeds sustainable yield at peak, storage bridges the gap rather than a bigger pump.
- 4Calculate total head - pumping water level, vertical lift to the discharge point, friction losses in the pipework, and any pressure required at the outlet.
- 5Select the pump from its performance curve, at the actual duty point rather than its headline maximum.
- 6Set the pump depth below the pumping water level but clear of the borehole floor and any sediment.
- 7Size cable and protection for the motor and the cable run.
- 8Design storage and controls around how the property actually uses water through the day.
Not sure whether you need a pressure system or a tank? That is a design question worth asking before you buy hardware.
Get an Installation QuoteThe Electrical Side
Borehole installations are electrical installations as well as plumbing ones, and this is where corner-cutting causes the most expensive failures.
- Correct cable sizing for the length of run and the motor current. Undersized cable causes voltage drop, which makes motors run hot and shortens their life.
- Properly made, waterproof cable joints rated for permanent submersion. A poorly sealed splice is a leading cause of premature motor failure.
- Motor protection against overload, single-phasing and voltage excursions.
- Dry-run protection by level probe, current sensing or pressure sensing - the safeguard that most often saves a pump.
- A weatherproof, accessible control enclosure, located where it can be reached for fault-finding.
- Earthing and earth leakage protection appropriate to a wet, buried installation.
- Isolation so the pump can be safely isolated for maintenance.
- Surge protection where the site is exposed to it.
Where Filtration Fits In
Treatment belongs in the installation design, not bolted on afterwards, but it can only be specified once you know what is in the water. That means water testing comes first and filtration follows from the result.
What is worth doing at installation stage is leaving room for it: space and pipework provision at the right point in the system, isolation valves either side of where treatment will sit, and a sensible layout for servicing filters. Retrofitting into a system with no provision is more disruptive and more expensive than allowing for it during the initial build.
Sequence matters. Yield testing before pump selection, water testing before filtration selection, and both before the system is finalised. Installing a pump first and testing later is the wrong order, and it is a common reason for systems that never quite settle down.
Commissioning and Handover
A borehole installation is finished when it has been proven, not when the last fitting is tightened. Commissioning should confirm:
- Pump performance measured at the actual duty point, not assumed from the catalogue
- Running current checked against the motor rating
- Drawdown behaviour under normal operation, confirming the pump is not over-drawing the borehole
- Dry-run and level controls proven by test, not just wired in
- Pressure settings and tank pre-charge set correctly where a pressure system is fitted
- Float and level switches operating at the intended levels
- The system checked for leaks under working pressure
- Filtration commissioned and flushed where fitted
Ask for a handover record covering pump make, model and set depth, cable size, control settings, pressure settings and the commissioning readings. When something needs attention in three years, that document turns a diagnostic exercise into a quick check. It also makes future borehole maintenance straightforward instead of speculative.
What Affects Installation Cost
| Factor | Why it moves the price |
|---|---|
| Borehole depth | Determines rising main length, cable length and the head the pump must overcome, which in turn affects pump size. |
| Tested yield versus demand | A large gap between the two usually means storage, which adds tank, base, level control and a booster pump. |
| System configuration | A direct pressure system has fewer components than a pump-to-tank system with boosting. |
| Distance from borehole to point of use | Trenching, pipe runs and cable runs, plus the friction losses those runs introduce. |
| Electrical supply | Distance to the distribution board, whether a new circuit is required, and single or three phase. |
| Storage volume and tank position | Tank size, base preparation, and whether an elevated stand is needed. |
| Water quality | Whether treatment is required at all, and how involved it is. |
| Site conditions | Access for trenching, existing services, paving and reinstatement. |
The borehole price guide sets installation alongside drilling and the other scopes so you can see how a complete project is priced.
Related Borehole Services
Everything on this page assumes the hole already exists and has been properly constructed. If you are starting from nothing, Borehole Drilling Cape Town covers the siting, drilling and casing that has to happen first.
What a Borehole Installation Costs
Installation is everything after the hole exists. The single biggest variable is whether the system runs direct to pressure or through storage, because a tank system adds a tank, a base, level control and a booster pump.
| Item | Indicative range | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Submersible pump, supply only | R4,000 – R25,000 | Flow and head required, motor size, build quality and parts availability. |
| Rising main, cable and safety line | R150 – R400 /m | Depth, pipe pressure class and cable size for the motor and run length. |
| Control gear and protection | R2,500 – R12,000 | Basic control box versus a full panel with dry-run, phase and voltage protection. |
| Electrical supply and trenching | R3,000 – R20,000 | Distance from the distribution board, whether a dedicated circuit is needed, single or three phase. |
| Complete direct-pressure installation | R25,000 – R55,000 | Pump, pipework, cable, controls and connection, without storage. |
| Complete pump-to-tank installation | R40,000 – R95,000 | Adds tank, base, level control, booster pump and pressure vessel. |
These are indicative ranges, not a quotation. They are compiled from published South African supplier and contractor pricing to give you a starting point for budgeting. They are not our rate card, and no figure here is a commitment.
Treat them as a broad guide only. Published borehole pricing in South Africa varies enormously - different 2026 guides quote per-metre drilling rates for the same province that differ by a factor of three - because depth, geology, access, specification, distance and fuel costs all move the number. Depth in particular is not known until the hole is finished. Figures generally exclude VAT unless noted, and change over time. Only an itemised written quote against your actual site means anything.
Borehole Installation FAQs
What is included in a borehole installation?
A complete installation covers the submersible pump, rising main, submersible cable and safety line, sealed headworks with non-return and isolation valves, the electrical supply and control gear with motor and dry-run protection, and the distribution pipework to wherever the water is going.
Depending on the design it also includes a storage tank with level control, a pressure system or booster pump, and filtration where the water analysis calls for it. Commissioning and a handover record should be part of the scope rather than an extra.
Can you install a system on a borehole someone else drilled?
Yes, and it is a common request. What is needed first is information about the borehole: its depth, the casing arrangement, the standing water level and - most importantly - a yield test result.
If no yield test exists, one should be carried out before a pump is selected. Installing a pump on an untested borehole means guessing at how much water it can sustainably deliver, and the usual result is an oversized pump that draws the level down and runs dry.
How long does a borehole installation take?
A straightforward domestic installation on an existing, tested borehole is often completed within a day or two. What extends it is the work around the pump rather than the pump itself: trenching for pipe and cable runs, electrical work back to the distribution board, tank bases, and any filtration.
Where a tank stand, significant trenching or a new electrical circuit is involved, plan on a longer programme and confirm the sequence upfront.
Do I need a storage tank, or can the pump feed the house directly?
It depends on the relationship between your borehole's sustainable yield and your peak demand. If the borehole can comfortably meet peak flow, a direct pressure system is simpler and cheaper. If peak demand exceeds what the borehole can deliver at that moment - which is common where irrigation is involved - storage is the better answer.
A tank also gives you buffer during a power outage or pump fault, and it lets the borehole pump run in longer, less frequent cycles, which is easier on the motor. See tank installation for how these systems are put together.
Can borehole water be plumbed into the house?
Technically it can be, but two things have to be settled first. The water needs to be tested and shown to be suitable for the intended use, with any necessary treatment installed - borehole water is not automatically safe to drink, and quality varies between properties.
Second, where a property also has a municipal connection, the two supplies must be kept properly separated with no possibility of cross-connection or backflow into the municipal system. That separation is a requirement, not an optional refinement, and it needs to be designed in.
What happens if the pump is too big for the borehole?
An oversized pump draws the water level down faster than the formation can replenish it. The level falls toward the pump intake, the pump begins drawing air, and it either trips on its dry-run protection or - if that protection is absent - runs dry and damages itself.
The symptom looks like a failing borehole, but the borehole is usually fine and the pump selection is wrong. This is precisely why yield testing comes before pump selection.
Will the installation include the electrical work?
Ask specifically, because scope varies between contractors. Some installations include everything from the distribution board to the pump; others price the pump and pipework and leave the supply cable and board work to an electrician.
Either arrangement can work, but the boundary needs to be clear in the quote so nothing falls in the gap between two trades. The submersible cable, joints, control gear and protection should be part of the borehole scope in any case, because they are specific to the pump.
How do I know the installation was done properly?
Ask for commissioning readings rather than a verbal assurance. Measured flow at the actual duty point, running current against the motor rating, drawdown behaviour under normal operation, and proof that dry-run and level protection were tested rather than simply wired in.
You should also receive a handover record listing pump make, model and set depth, cable size, and the control and pressure settings. That document makes future servicing and fault-finding far quicker.
A HOLE IS NOT A WATER SUPPLY.
Get a quote for the pump, pipework, controls and storage that make it one.
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