Olympus sits against the eastern extension of the Bronberg, on ground that shifts from hard quartzite to shale over short distances.
That transition is the main variable in a quote here, and it does not follow street boundaries.
What Is Under Olympus
| Formation | Where it sits | What it means for drilling |
|---|---|---|
| Magaliesberg Formation quartzite | The ridge itself and its dip slopes, running east through Pretoria as the Bronberg | Very hard and very slow to drill, and the single largest cost driver on this ground. Yield is entirely fracture-dependent. |
| Silverton Formation shale | The lower ground and valleys on either side of the ridge | Softer and quicker to drill, but a weak aquifer on its own. The better targets sit at fracture zones and intrusive contacts within it. |
| Scree, colluvium and boulder cover | The ridge footslopes and the upper stands | Loose and inconsistent cover that has to be cased through, and the main reason rig access is difficult on these stands. |
Send your street and what the water is for, and get an itemised quote for Olympus.
Get a Olympus Borehole QuoteWhat That Means for Your Borehole
- Quartzite is the slowest ground in Pretoria and per-metre rates on the ridge reflect that.
- Two adjacent stands can get very different results which is the nature of fracture-controlled ground.
- Siting is the highest-value decision on this ground, ahead of every equipment choice.
Where We Work Around Olympus
- Olympus and Olympus Extension
- Bronberg slopes and upper stands
- Faerie Glen and Wapadrand boundaries
- Mooikloof approaches
- Woodhill and Silver Lakes side
- Estate developments in the area
- Smallholdings toward the east
What to Watch For Here
Larger stands make siting easier and access harder. Properties here are generous, which gives more scope to place a hole well. The trade-off is that the driveways and gates on those stands are often long, narrow and steep, and the rig has to get through them.
Distance from the network shows up as pressure problems. This part of the east sits toward the extremity of the reticulation, and low pressure or interruption is a recurring complaint. That makes storage central to the design rather than an afterthought.
What the Water Is Used For
- Irrigation over the long dry season before the summer rains
- Keeping water on the property through supply outages
- Common areas across complexes and estate developments
- Topping up the pool, subject to what the analysis says
- Reducing a municipal water account that has climbed steeply
Wellpoint or Borehole?
Ruled out entirely. Ridge ground is rock and boulder from very near surface, which is the worst possible setting for a wellpoint. A drilled borehole is the only route.
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.
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 | R600 - R1,400 /m | The rate here is the highest in the city because the rock is. Coming off the ridge onto the shale footslopes brings it down. |
| uPVC casing, installed, per metre | R400 - R700 /m | The scree and boulder mantle is the section needing casing, and its depth is notoriously inconsistent on these slopes. |
| 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.
Olympus Borehole FAQs
Is Olympus on hard ground?
Partly. The ridge quartzite runs through this area and the shale sits below it, and the boundary between them does not follow suburb or street lines.
Where your stand sits relative to it is the main thing that moves the per-metre rate, so being specific when asking for a quote is worthwhile.
Does a bigger stand mean a better borehole?
It means more choice about where to put it, which genuinely helps, because siting is the decision that matters most on fracture-controlled ground.
It does not change the underlying geology, so a larger stand improves the odds rather than guaranteeing a result.
What is the pressure situation like out here?
Suburbs at the extremities of the network are the ones that lose pressure first when supply is constrained, and that is a recurring issue in the far east.
It is why many installations here are designed around storage and standby capability rather than purely around irrigation.
How long until a borehole pays for itself?
It depends on current water spend and use. Irrigation-heavy properties see the clearest case; low-use households take much longer.
Where the motivation is continuity of supply rather than saving money, the calculation is a different one and often more compelling.
DRILLING IN OLYMPUS?
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