Spike well installation in Riga and the Riga region - spike wells, boreholes and wells for private houses

Spike well, borehole or dug well: the difference is depth

All three sources draw groundwater, but from different layers. How deep the water is on your plot decides which source works, which pump you need and what the job will cost.

A spike well and a dug well take groundwater that lies close to the surface. This is cheaper, but this water is more easily affected by what happens around it: rain, fertiliser, waste water from a septic tank. A borehole's aquifer is covered from above by denser layers, so it is better protected, and the amount of water is usually more stable even in a dry summer. Yet it too can contain a lot of iron, manganese or hardness salts, and only a water test shows that.

A surface pump draws water by vacuum, and in practice it lifts it from no deeper than 7–8 m. That is why a spike well suits a plot where groundwater is close and the soil is sandy. If the water is deeper, or the ground has stones and dense clay, the solution is a borehole with a submersible pump. Comparisons with pros and cons: spike well or borehole, borehole or dug well and dug well or spike well.

Before the job, we find out how deep the water is in the neighbours' wells, spike wells and boreholes, and we take the available geological data into account. Still, the amount and quality of water at a specific spot can only be known after drilling and testing, so we do not promise them in advance.

Services and prices

All prices are starting prices for a typical job in Riga and the Riga region. The final sum depends on depth, soil, materials and access for machinery, and we state it before the job.

• Spike well: a new spike well from €350 (usually €350–650), without the pump, pressure tank and connection to the house. We price spike well cleaning and repair after hearing the situation.
• Boreholes: drilling from €65/m, a borehole ~30 m deep from €2,000, equipment from €500, cleaning from €400.
• Well cleaning: from €150, with disinfection after cleaning.
• Well digging: we price a new well after hearing the situation (depth, soil, concrete rings, access); well deepening and repair from €150.
• Water pump installation: submersible pump installation from €200, pump separately; also pressure tanks and pressure switches.
• Water treatment: iron removal filter with installation from €600, water softener with installation from €600, reverse osmosis from €250.
• Water testing: basic test from €35, full test (chemistry and microbiology) from €95. We take the sample; an accredited laboratory does the test.
• Water supply system for a private house: the water pipe from the source to the house, the house entry, pump and filters; we draw up the estimate after hearing the situation.
• Travel outside the Riga region: ~€0.90/km. Full price list with worked examples: prices.

How the work goes

1. Request In the form, give your name, phone and address, then the service, when you need it and a short description, for example whether the plot already has a well or a spike well and how deep it is. You can send the request online at any time.
2. We contact you within 5 minutes After you submit the form, we contact you within 5 minutes and clarify what affects the job: how much water you need, whether the house is lived in all year, where machinery can drive in.
3. Site visit For a new source, we choose the spot together with you: distance from the house, septic tank and boundary, access for the drilling rig, underground utilities. Then we state the price.
4. The job We build the source, connect the pump and, if needed, lay the water pipe to the house. We start only when the price is known and you agree to it.
5. Documents After the job, you receive a certificate of completed work. For a borehole, the drilling company prepares the borehole passport and submits it to LVĢMC for approval.

Rules before drilling

A well or borehole up to 20 m deep, from which no more than 10 m³ of water is taken per day, needs no licence from the State Environmental Service (VVD). For a deeper borehole, the licence is requested before the job by the drilling company, not the homeowner, and the state fee is €35.57. In the building code, a spike well (driven well) is a water abstraction borehole, so the same rules apply to it.

After a borehole is made, the company prepares the borehole passport, and the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre (LVĢMC) approves it within 10 working days; the fee is €115.34. Under Cabinet Regulation No. 253, an explanatory memorandum (paskaidrojuma raksts) is submitted to the municipal building authority (būvvalde) for a new well or borehole, but the VVD infographics describe this step differently, so check it with your building authority before the job. More: borehole registration.

State rules do not set a distance in metres from a well to a septic tank. No protection zone is set for a well or borehole used for your own needs, if the surroundings are kept in order and waste water does not get into the ground. So in practice we place the source as far from the septic tank and manure as possible. More: protection zone around a well.

If there is a water main by the house

If there is mains water (public water supply) in the street by your property, compare both options. You pay for the connection once and then pay each month for the water you use. Your own source needs an investment, a pump, often a filter and maintenance too, but there is no water bill. Both are also possible: drinking water from the mains, and a spike well for watering the garden. How connecting works: connecting to mains water.

Where we work

We serve Riga and the Riga region. In Riga, spike wells and wells are most common in neighbourhoods of private houses, for example Mežaparks, Bieriņi, Trīsciems and Vecāķi.

Outside Riga we work in Mārupe, Ķekava, Ādaži, Salaspils, Baldone, Jūrmala and elsewhere. All places: where we work.