Irene sits on the dolomite that has been studied more closely than almost any ground in the country, because the area east of the village is a reference site for dolomite stability work.
That research is useful context, but it does not make an individual borehole predictable: karst yields still turn on what a specific hole intersects.
What Is Under Irene
| Formation | Where it sits | What it means for drilling |
|---|---|---|
| Malmani Subgroup dolomite | The bedrock beneath most of the suburb, part of the Chuniespoort Group | A karst aquifer. Water moves through solution cavities and fracture zones rather than sitting evenly in the rock, so a hole that intersects a cavity can be strong and one a short distance away can be poor. |
| Chert and chert breccia | Bands within the dolomite and residual rubble above it | Extremely hard drilling. The chert-rich formations slow progress and wear bits; the chert-poor ones drill faster. Which you get is not known until the rig is turning. |
| Wad and residual soil | The leached mantle between the soil and dolomite bedrock | The compressible layer above bedrock. It varies in thickness across one stand and will not stand open, so it has to be cased. |
Send your street and what the water is for, and get an itemised quote for Irene.
Get a Irene 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.
- Casing through the wad horizon is not optional and its thickness is unknown until drilling starts.
Where We Work Around Irene
- Irene village and the older stands
- Doringkloof boundary
- Cornwall Hill and Southdowns approaches
- Smallholdings toward Olifantsfontein
- Equestrian and agricultural properties
- Nellmapius Drive corridor
- Estate and complex developments around the village
What to Watch For Here
Smallholding demand is different from suburban demand. Irene and the ground around it carry a mix of large stands, small farms and equestrian properties, and the water requirement on those is continuous rather than seasonal. That changes pump sizing and usually makes storage essential rather than optional.
Abstraction volume can move you out of Schedule 1. Domestic use and a garden sit comfortably within the National Water Act's Schedule 1. Watering paddocks, filling troughs for a herd or irrigating a commercial crop generally does not, and that is a registration question worth settling before drilling rather than after.
What the Water Is Used For
- Irrigation over the long dry season before the summer rains
- Stock watering and paddock irrigation on smallholdings
- A fallback for when the reticulated supply fails
- Grounds at schools, clubs and places of worship
- Reducing a municipal water account that has climbed steeply
Wellpoint or Borehole?
Not possible on this ground. Driven points rely on loose, permeable material within about seven metres of surface. Dolomite and its chert rubble stop a point immediately, and the water sits far deeper than a surface pump can lift it.
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.
Dolomitic ground carries an extra requirement. SANS 1936 governs what may be built on it, and the Council for Geoscience holds the stability records the metro works from, which means approvals can be needed before drilling starts rather than after. It is worth checking at the planning stage, since it can move dates rather than just add forms.
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.
Irene Borehole FAQs
Why is Irene so often mentioned in dolomite research?
The ground east of Irene sits on the Lyttelton and Eccles dolomite formations and has been used as a study area for understanding karst stability in southern Tshwane.
For a property owner the practical takeaway is simply that this is well-characterised dolomitic ground, and that drilling on it carries requirements that ordinary ground does not.
Can I irrigate a smallholding from a borehole in Irene?
Often yes, but the volume matters. Yield has to be established by a proper pumping test before you size anything, because sustained agricultural draw is a very different demand from garden irrigation.
Abstraction at that level may also fall outside Schedule 1 of the National Water Act and require registration or authorisation, so confirm your position first.
Are yields good in Irene?
They can be very good, because dolomite is the strongest aquifer in the region. The springs that historically supplied Pretoria rise from this same dolomite.
That said, yield depends on intersecting a cavity or fracture zone. A strong regional aquifer does not guarantee a strong hole on a particular stand.
Do horses and livestock affect where the borehole should go?
Yes, and it is worth raising early. Keeping the borehole and its headworks well clear of stabling, manure handling and any soakaway reduces the risk of surface contamination reaching the hole.
On karst ground that matters more than usual, because water can move quickly through solution channels with little natural filtration.
DRILLING IN IRENE?
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