Extending the water main and sewerage in Šampēteris was part of stage 3 of the Cohesion Fund project (2006–2009). Yet in the 2025 report of Rīgas ūdens (Riga's water utility) the neighbourhood is still among those where services are not available, or only partly available, in some streets. So here, houses that have used city water for years stand next to houses with an old spike well or well. There are also offices and warehouses for which their own borehole may be cheaper than metered water.
The old spike well gives less and less: clean it or install a new one
A spike well installed many years ago rarely fails suddenly. Usually the flow gets weaker, the pump starts drawing air or the water comes with sand. The most common causes are a clogged filter (iron deposits, fine sand or silt), air leaking in at the joints or a worn non-return valve.
- Check First we separate the pump from the spike well and check whether the fault is in the pump, the non-return valve or the suction pipe. Some spike wells that seem useless are actually sound.
- Flushing If the filter is clogged, we flush the spike well with water under pressure and pump it until the water runs clear.
- Filter replacement or a new spike well If the screen is damaged or so clogged that flushing does not help, we pull out the spike well and replace the filter or install a new one next to it. A new spike well costs from €350.
There is no fixed price for spike well cleaning and repair: it depends on what has happened, how badly the filter is clogged, the depth and location of the spike well, and whether the old one is worth saving. We price it once we have heard what the situation is. More: spike well cleaning and spike well repair.
For houses without a service pipe: your own source for the long term
If there is no service pipe at your boundary, check this in the Rīgas ūdens “Service availability” (Pakalpojuma pieejamība) form and then choose a source. For a house lived in all year we more often recommend a borehole (from €65/m): it is better protected from surface water and usually gives water even in a dry summer. A spike well is cheaper, but only if the ground is sand and the water is no deeper than 7–8 m from the pump.
On a town plot, a place for the source has to be found between the house, the fence, the driveway and the wastewater system. State regulations do not require a specific distance in metres to a septic tank, so we follow good practice: the further from wastewater and the higher, the better. More: protection zone around a well.
Sources: Rīgas ūdens contract performance report for 2025 and “Projects co-financed by European Union funds” (stage 3) (rigasudens.lv); the Protection Zone Law, the second part of Section 9 (likumi.lv/ta/id/42348). Checked 03.11.2026.
If the house is already on city water
Houses that switched to city water after stage 3 may still have the old spike well or borehole in the garden. The spike well can be used for watering with its own pump and tap, provided it is not connected to the house plumbing, because Riga's binding regulations No. 17 forbid that. The regulations require an unused borehole to be decommissioned: borehole decommissioning.
Sources: Riga City Council binding regulations No. 17, sub-point 63.6 (likumi.lv/ta/id/296134); Cabinet Regulation No. 696 on subsoil licences, point 21 (likumi.lv/ta/id/236750). Checked 03.11.2026.
For offices, warehouses and hotels: a borehole and the tax
For a business with its own borehole, the key figure is 10 m³ per day. As long as abstraction does not exceed it, no natural resources tax is payable on the water. Above this limit you pay €0.02, €0.041 or €0.05/m³ depending on the value of the groundwater. If abstraction is 10 m³ per day or more, or more than 50 people receive the water, you also need a water use permit from the State Environmental Service (VVD).
- The tax return is submitted to the State Revenue Service by the 20th of the month after the end of the quarter, and the tax is paid by the 23rd.
- If the tax for the year does not exceed €142.29, the return is submitted once a year by 20 January.
- Permit holders submit the statistical water report “Nr. 2 - Ūdens” to the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre (LVĢMC) every year by 1 March.
- A business borehole, like a house borehole, must not be connected to the city water main.
We choose the borehole depth and pump for a business by its water use, so as not to exceed what the borehole can give. More: borehole for a business and natural resources tax for a borehole.
Sources: the Natural Resources Tax Law, point 1 of the first part of Section 3, Section 19, Section 27 and Annex 2 (likumi.lv/ta/id/124707); Cabinet Regulation No. 736 of 23.12.2003 on water use permits, sub-point 2.1 (likumi.lv/ta/id/82574); Cabinet Regulation No. 271 of 23.05.2017, points 2.1 and 4 (likumi.lv/ta/id/291027). Checked 03.11.2026.
Access and prices
The main streets of Šampēteris are Kārļa Ulmaņa gatve and Lielirbes iela, and a drilling rig can usually get in here without difficulty. On commercial sites we agree the entry and the work spot with the site manager. Šampēteris is part of Riga, so there is no call-out fee. All prices: prices.