Highveld sits on dolomite in the middle of Centurion's office and technology node, so the demand here is a mix of corporate landscaping and residential.
Karst ground means the same variability as the rest of Centurion, with the added constraint of drilling on developed commercial sites.
What Is Under Highveld
| Formation | Where it sits | What it means for drilling |
|---|---|---|
| Malmani Subgroup dolomite | The bedrock beneath most of the suburb, part of the Chuniespoort Group | The strongest aquifer in the region, but an uneven one. Yield depends on striking a cavity or a fracture zone, not on reaching a particular depth. |
| Chert and chert breccia | Bands within the dolomite and residual rubble above it | Very slow going. Progress through a chert band can be a fraction of the rate through clean dolomite, which is why per-metre quotes here carry a wide range. |
| Wad and residual soil | The leached mantle between the soil and dolomite bedrock | Soft leached material that will not hold an open hole. Its thickness is discovered during drilling, which is why casing should be priced per metre. |
Send your street and what the water is for, and get an itemised quote for Highveld.
Get a Highveld Borehole QuoteWhat That Means for Your Borehole
- Yields are the least predictable in the city high where a solution cavity is intersected, disappointing a stand away.
- Budget for slow metres through chert which is the main reason dolomite quotes carry a wider range than quotes elsewhere.
- Loss of circulation is common when a cavity is opened, and the rig has to be equipped for it.
Where We Work Around Highveld
- Highveld and Highveld Extension stands
- Highveld Technopark
- Office parks along the N1 corridor
- Centurion CBD boundary
- Erasmia and Rooihuiskraal approaches
- Residential complexes in the node
- Retail and mixed-use developments
What to Watch For Here
Commercial sites bring service congestion. Office park stands carry dense underground services, paved surfaces and landscaping that has to be reinstated. Locating existing services before drilling is not optional on this ground, and on dolomite a damaged water line is a stability concern rather than just an inconvenience.
Corporate irrigation demand is steady and visible. Landscaping around commercial buildings needs to look consistent through the dry season, which means a system sized for continuity rather than for a peak. That usually points to more storage and a smaller pump than owners initially expect.
What the Water Is Used For
- Office park and corporate landscaping
- A fallback for when the reticulated supply fails
- Watering lawns and beds through the driest months of the year
- Cutting the volume bought from the metro each month
- Wash-down and general non-potable site use
Wellpoint or Borehole?
No. Wellpoints belong in sandy coastal ground, and nothing of that kind exists here. The rubble above the dolomite cannot be driven through, which leaves a drilled hole as the only workable option.
Registration and Abstraction
A completed borehole here should be registered with the City of Tshwane, and the responsibility for that sits with the property owner rather than with the driller. Separately, the National Water Act governs how much you may abstract: reasonable domestic use and small-scale gardening generally fall under Schedule 1, while larger, agricultural or commercial abstraction may require registration or a water use authorisation from the Department of Water and Sanitation. The position on domestic registration was being actively revised during 2026, so confirm your obligations before drilling rather than afterwards.
There is an additional step on dolomite. Stability classifications for this land sit with the Council for Geoscience and development on it falls under SANS 1936, so the City may want sight of that before a rig is permitted on the stand. Raise it early; the delay, if there is one, is in the approval rather than in the drilling.
Related Services
For the drilling process itself, the geology across the wider metro and how a quote is put together, see Borehole Drilling Pretoria.
Borehole Prices in This Area
Drilling is charged per metre, so depth drives the total. The ranges below are framed for local ground conditions and access.
| Item | Indicative range | What moves it locally |
|---|---|---|
| Drilling, per metre | R500 - R1,200 /m | Expect slow metres through chert and the possibility of having to move and redrill if a cavity is struck. Both push this figure toward the upper end. |
| uPVC casing, installed, per metre | R400 - R700 /m | Depends on diameter and class and on the depth of the leached horizon above bedrock, which varies across a single stand. |
| Mobilisation and site establishment | R2,500 - R9,000 | Access and site conditions move this; a site visit settles it before quoting. |
| Water survey | R5,000 - R12,000 | Targets structure rather than depth. Worth most where yield is fracture-dependent. |
| Yield testing | R3,500 - R15,000 | Establishes the sustainable rate that pump selection depends on. |
| Pump, supplied and installed | R15,000 - R45,000 | Greater depth means more head, which means a larger pump and heavier cable. |
| Storage and booster | R12,000 - R35,000 | Needed wherever peak demand exceeds the borehole's sustainable rate. |
| Typical complete project | R70,000 - R200,000+ | Everything above, excluding treatment, which depends entirely on the water analysis. |
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 - 2026 guides quote per-metre drilling rates for Gauteng ranging from under R300/m to R1,500/m, a spread of more than five to one - 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.
Highveld Borehole FAQs
Can a borehole supply an office park in Highveld?
For irrigation and non-potable use, commonly yes. For potable supply to a commercial building the requirements are considerably more demanding, including treatment and ongoing monitoring against SANS 241.
Volume also matters: sustained commercial abstraction can move you out of Schedule 1 and into needing authorisation from the Department of Water and Sanitation.
What is involved in drilling on a developed commercial site?
Service location comes first, then access planning for the rig, then reinstatement of paving or landscaping afterwards. Each of those is a line item and should appear on the quote.
On dolomitic ground there is a further step, because the metro may require approvals relating to dolomite stability before drilling proceeds.
Is dolomite a problem for commercial buildings in Highveld?
It is a recognised engineering consideration rather than a reason not to drill. Development on dolomite land is governed by SANS 1936 and most commercial sites here already have a stability report on file from when they were developed.
That existing report is genuinely useful at siting stage and worth retrieving before the rig is booked.
How much water can a Highveld borehole realistically supply?
Only a pumping test answers that. Dolomite can deliver strong yields, but the range across neighbouring properties is wide and no honest estimate is possible beforehand.
For a commercial site the test matters more than usual, because the whole irrigation or process design depends on a sustainable figure rather than an optimistic one.
DRILLING IN HIGHVELD?
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