Borehole water-use authorisation questions to ask
The technical question is whether water can be accessed. The regulatory question is whether the intended use is permitted, registered, or authorised for that property, source, and volume. Keep those questions separate before spending on equipment.
Describe the source and intended use
Record the property, source, estimated volume, seasonality, domestic or irrigation use, livestock or business use, discharge, storage, and any existing municipal or Department of Water and Sanitation correspondence.
Do not rely on the word borehole alone. The use of the water, the volume, the location, and the conditions around the source are what shape the authorisation question.
Separate the physical borehole from the water use
A driller can explain construction, depth, casing, and measured yield. A pump installer can explain equipment and pressure. Those facts do not automatically answer whether the intended abstraction or use is permitted for the property.
Keep the drilling log, pump test, water-use description, and authority correspondence together, but record which person or institution answered each question.
Check the official process
Use the current DWS water-use and groundwater information as the starting point. A property may also be affected by municipal bylaws, conditions, environmental requirements, servitudes, local infrastructure rules, or existing approvals.
Do not treat a neighbour, supplier, old invoice, or generic online checklist as confirmation for a different property. Save the current process page and a dated copy of any response or application record.
Define volume and operating pattern
Write down expected daily and seasonal use, irrigation area, storage capacity, peak demand, discharge, and any planned expansion. A small domestic use and a larger commercial or irrigation use can create different questions.
Avoid inflating or minimising the description to fit an assumed answer. The record should describe the actual intended use and the assumptions used to estimate volume.
Check the property and neighbouring constraints
Map the source, buildings, tanks, wastewater systems, property boundary, access, servitudes, and other water points. Ask whether the property is in a sensitive area or subject to a condition that affects abstraction, storage, discharge, or connection to other systems.
A water-use decision can involve more than the pump and borehole. Keep the site plan and any relevant municipal or environmental correspondence with the project evidence.
Do not confuse authorisation with water quality
Permission to use a source does not prove that the water is suitable for drinking, bathing, irrigation, livestock, or a business process. Water quality requires a separate sampling, testing, interpretation, and treatment decision.
Similarly, a clean water report does not answer the authorisation question. Keep the legal, technical, and health decisions distinct so a supplier cannot use one as proof of another.
Ask who is qualified to answer
Use DWS and the relevant municipality for the current process, then consult an appropriately qualified adviser when the property, use, volume, or risk is not straightforward. Ask for the basis of the answer and keep the name, date, scope, and supporting documents.
WaterWise SA is an education guide. It does not determine whether a particular property has authorisation, file an application, or provide legal or engineering approval.
Protect the enquiry
A provider or product form should receive only the information needed for its stated purpose. Do not send identity documents, exact access details, complete property plans, or authority correspondence to an unidentified buyer.
Use a named provider, understand why the information is needed, and check current coverage, privacy, and customer terms before submitting.