How to Request a Borehole Drilling Quotation That Drillers Can Price Accurately

Getting a quotation for borehole drilling is not like quoting a paint job. Drillers are pricing something they cannot fully see before they start — the geology underground is invisible until the bit goes in. That means the quality of information you give them directly controls how accurate, and how comparable, their prices will be. Send too little, and you will either get a price padded with risk or one that falls apart mid-job when unexpected conditions emerge.

This guide walks you through exactly what to prepare before you contact any driller, so that every quote lands on the same basis and you can make a proper comparison.

Why Vague Requests Produce Useless Quotes

A driller pricing a borehole must estimate rig setup costs, drilling depth, casing requirements, pump selection, and water treatment needs — all before breaking ground. If you give them only a suburb name and “I want water for my house”, each driller fills the gaps with different assumptions. One might assume 60 metres depth; another might price for 120 metres. One might include casing throughout; another might quote casing only to refusal. The numbers look incomparable because they are.

This is one of the core problems covered in our guide on how to get comparable water quotes — the fix starts before you make contact, not after.

Information to Gather Before You Request Any Quote

1. Property Details

• Full street address and erf number. The erf number lets drillers check municipal records and sometimes the Department of Water and Sanitation’s borehole register for nearby historical drilling data.
• Property size and land use. A smallholding with irrigation needs is a very different job from a suburban plot supplying a household.
• Title deed restrictions or servitudes. Some properties have servitudes that limit where drilling can occur. Flag these upfront.

2. Site Access Information

This one is underestimated. A borehole rig is a large, heavy vehicle — often 10 to 20 tonnes — and it needs a clear, firm path to the drilling position. Before asking for quotes, walk your property and note:

• Gate width and height clearance
• Overhead power or telephone lines
• Trees, outbuildings, or retaining walls near the preferred drill site
• Ground condition (soft lawn, steep slope, loose sand)

Our dedicated article on whether a rig can reach your site covers this in detail and is worth reading before you finalise your preferred drilling position.

3. Your Estimated Daily Water Demand

Drillers size the recommended yield and pump partly around how much water you need. Do a rough calculation:

• Number of people in the household (South Africans use on average about 237 litres per person per day, above the global average, so that is a reasonable planning figure for full household supply)
• Irrigation area, if any — garden size and watering frequency
• Livestock or other uses

You do not need a precise engineering figure. A statement like “four adults, approximately 800–1,000 litres per day household use, plus an 80 m² garden” gives drillers something concrete to work with.

4. Existing Survey or Geological Data

If you or a previous owner have had a geohydrological survey or a hydrogeological report done, include it. Even a brief written summary from a local water diviner (acknowledging that divining is not scientifically verified, but that drillers often want to know where previous attempts were sited) is useful context.

If no survey exists, ask drillers whether they recommend one before pricing. In areas with complex geology or a poor track record of productive boreholes, a survey can save you the cost of a dry hole. The Department of Water and Sanitation maintains a National Groundwater Archive with historical borehole data that drillers familiar with your region should be able to consult.

5. Preferred Borehole Position

Mark a preferred position on a simple hand-drawn sketch or a screenshot from Google Maps with a pin. Note any positions that are excluded (too close to a septic tank, beneath overhead lines, inside a servitude). The driller may override your preference based on geology or access, but having a starting point avoids wasted site visits.

Ready to put your brief together? Compare 3 free quotes — vetted installers, no obligation.

How to Structure the Request Itself

Once you have your information, write a short document — even a detailed email works — structured like this:

Section	What to Include
Property	Address, erf number, property size, land use
Access	Gate dimensions, overhead obstacles, ground conditions, site sketch
Water demand	Household size, daily estimate, irrigation or livestock details
Geological context	Any survey reports, known local geology, nearby borehole history
Preferred position	Marked sketch or GPS coordinates, exclusion zones
Scope of quote	Drilling only, or drilling plus pump, pressure tank, pipework, treatment?
Timeline	When you need work to start, if relevant

Sending the same document to each driller is what makes quotes comparable. If each driller quotes on a different scope, you cannot compare prices meaningfully. Be explicit about whether you want a quote for drilling only, or a complete turnkey system including pump, pressure tank, pipework to the house, and any water treatment required to meet SANS 241, the South African drinking-water quality standard.

What to Ask Drillers to Include in Their Quote

Your request should specify that the quote must break down:

• Mobilisation and rig setup costs
• Drilling rate per metre and assumed depth range
• Casing specification and length included
• Pump make, model, and installed cost
• Any borehole development and yield testing
• Water quality testing, if included
• Reinstatement of the site
• Payment terms and what happens if the borehole is dry or low-yielding

That last point matters. Understand the driller’s policy on unsuccessful holes before you sign anything. This is one of the warning signs covered in our article on red flags in a borehole quote — a quote that does not address the dry-hole scenario is an incomplete quote.

Price Ranges: What to Expect in Johannesburg

As a Johannesburg reference point, typical complete borehole systems run R40,000–R150,000, with most falling between R60,000 and R100,000. Pumps alone typically cost R15,000–R35,000 installed. These figures are for Greater Johannesburg; geology, labour markets, and access conditions vary significantly across South Africa, so treat them only as a rough guide and confirm via the quotes you receive.

If a quote comes in dramatically below this range with no explanation, ask what has been excluded. Unexpectedly low prices usually reflect assumptions that will surface later as variations.

Once your brief is ready, it takes a few minutes to submit it. Request quotes from vetted drillers — no obligation, no middleman markup.

How WaterQuotes Fits Into This Process

WaterQuotes does not drill, install, or treat water. What the service does is match you with up to three vetted installers who quote on the same brief — which is why the brief matters so much. A structured request submitted through how it works goes to drillers who have been checked for licensing and insurance, and because they are all quoting on the same document, you can compare line by line rather than guessing what each price includes.

The preparation you do upfront — site details, access notes, demand estimate, preferred position — is the single biggest lever you have over the quality of the quotes you receive. Spend an hour on the brief; it will save you far more than that in confusion, revisits, and mismatched expectations once work begins.