However, the neighbourhood is still on the report's list of neighbourhoods where services are only partly available in part of the area. We help you compare your own spike well (“spice” in Latvian) or borehole with a connection, install sources for houses without a network and for gardens, and fit pumps and filters.
Ziepniekkalns private house streets and the new network
Ziepniekkalns is a large southern Pārdaugava neighbourhood: apartment block estates around Vienības gatve and Ziepniekkalna iela, streets of detached houses and an industrial and commercial edge with warehouses and factories. The apartment blocks are on the city network. The private house areas have gained the network gradually, in several projects.
- Stage 4 (project name “Katlakalns”): part of Ziepniekkalns and Bišumuiža, water mains and sewers with service pipes up to the plot boundaries.
- Stage 6 together with Teika and Imanta: 3.57 km of water mains and 7.50 km of sewers in total.
- In 2025 network construction in stage 2 of Ziepniekkalns was completed and connections started; in the same year water mains in Ziepniekkalns were also renewed.
The report does not name the streets that still have no network. So for each property the answer comes from the Rīgas ūdens “Service availability” form: if a connection is possible, the technical conditions are prepared within 11 working days, free of charge.
How to compare your own source with a connection
The decision is easier if you put the two routes side by side. The table shows our prices and figures published by Rīgas ūdens; the amounts on your plot depend on the distance, the depth and the house's internal system.
| Criterion | Your own source | Connection to the network |
|---|---|---|
| Installation | A spike well from €350 or a borehole about 30 m deep from €2,000, equipment from €500, pump extra | Service pipe on your own plot and inlet into the house at your own expense; technical conditions free of charge |
| Monthly costs | Pump electricity, filter maintenance if filters are needed | Tariff €1.41 per m³ excluding VAT (September 2026) |
| Water quality | The owner is responsible; water test from €35, with microbiology from €95 | Controlled by Rīgas ūdens; in 2025 the network averaged iron 0.11 mg/l, hardness 1.82 mmol/l |
| Co-financing | None | None for a water main; in parts of stage 6 support only for sewers (€1,800 or 100% for priority groups) |
Often the best value is a combination of both: drinking water from the network, while the existing source stays for the garden as a separate system. Riga City Council binding regulations No. 17 prohibit connecting local source pipes to the city network, so when you connect we rebuild the old system.
A service pipe built by a neighbour, and building the network at your own expense
If there is no network in the street or it has to be extended to your plot, binding regulations No. 17 provide that Rīgas ūdens organises the construction at the applicant's expense under a connection agreement, and the applicant pays for it before the work. Once put into service, such a service pipe up to the boundary becomes the property of Rīgas ūdens.
There is also a rule that protects whoever paid first: if other owners connect to the same network within 8 years, they compensate the original funder for the construction costs in the way the regulations set out. If a neighbour has recently built a service pipe, ask Rīgas ūdens how it affects your connection before you choose between the network and your own source.
If you stay with your own source
For houses that cannot yet be connected or that choose their own source, we put the whole water route in order. Riga's regulations do not require an existing house to connect; the obligation applies to new buildings if the network and a service pipe reach the boundary.
- Spike well in Ziepniekkalns: from €350, usually €350–650.
- Borehole in Ziepniekkalns: drilling from €65/m.
- Pressure tank and pump: submersible pump installation from €200; an old system often needs a new pressure switch or pressure tank membrane.
- Water treatment: iron removal or softening with installation from €600, if the water test calls for it.
- Water supply system installation for a private house: trench, inlet, utility room.
For apartment blocks and businesses
In the Ziepniekkalns estates water comes from the network, and Rīgas ūdens states that most consumers on the left bank receive treated Daugava water from the “Daugava” plant. A flat usually needs no more than a reverse osmosis filter in the kitchen (from €250). For warehouses and factories on the industrial edge we also drill boreholes for technical needs: borehole for a business.
Sources: Rīgas ūdens, contract performance report for 2025 (Ziepniekkalns, stage 2 connections, renewal of water mains); Rīgas ūdens, projects co-financed by EU funds (stages 4 and 6); Rīgas ūdens, “Property without a connection” and co-financing page; Riga City Council binding regulations No. 17, points 5, 12–16 and 63.6; Riga City Council binding regulations RD-25-22-sn; Rīgas ūdens, 2025 average values; Rīgas ūdens, “Water abstraction”; LV portāls 21.09.2026 (tariff). Checked 03.11.2026.
Neighbouring areas
Ziepniekkalns borders Atgāzene, Bieriņi, Bišumuiža and Katlakalns; all of them have both new networks and houses with their own source. All neighbourhoods: Riga.