A spike well suits sandy soil where the water level is usually no deeper than 7–8 metres from the pump. Installation in Riga and the Riga region costs from €350 (usually €350–650); the pump and the connection to the house are charged separately. Describe the situation in your request, and we will tell you whether a spike well is the right choice at your spot.
How a spike well is built: how it gets water
A spike well has three parts. At the bottom is the filter: a perforated pipe end with a fine metal mesh and a pointed tip, which lets water in but holds back sand. Above it are pipe sections joined by threads, usually about 1–1¼ inches in diameter. Above ground, a non-return valve and a surface pump or pump station are connected to the spike well.
The pump creates a vacuum in the pipe, and atmospheric pressure pushes the water up. This principle has a physical limit: about 10 metres in theory, but in practice, allowing for losses in the pipe and pump, usually 7–8 metres from the pump to the water level during pumping. The non-return valve holds the column of water in the pipe, so the pump does not have to draw the water up afresh each time.
So a spike well for getting water takes groundwater from the upper layer. This is cheaper and faster than a borehole, but this layer is more affected by drought and surface pollution.
Spike well depth
When talking about depth, two things must be kept apart: how deep the spike well itself goes and how deep the water stands. The pipe can go deeper than 8 metres if the water-bearing sand layer starts lower, but the water level during pumping must stay within the pump's reach. If the water stands at a depth of 4 metres, but the filter sits in water-bearing sand at 9 metres, the spike well will work. If the water level is at 9 metres, a surface pump will not lift it.
The best guide is the depth of the neighbours' spike wells and wells and the water level in them. Where to look for data on boreholes in the area: borehole map. Only drilling at the specific spot gives the final answer.
When a spike well is the right choice and when it is not
A spike well for water is a good choice when three conditions are met at once: the soil is sand, the water is close to the surface and the amount of water needed is at household level.
- Suits: sandy soil where water flows freely to the filter, and the neighbours' spike wells work.
- Suits: a private house, a summer house or garden watering, when you need a cheap solution without large machinery in the yard.
- Will not suit: clay or sandy clay around the filter. There is water in it, but it flows in too slowly, and the pump draws it out faster than it recovers.
- Will not suit: stones and boulders, in which the pipe gets stuck or the filter is damaged.
- Will not suit: a water level deeper than the pump's limit. Then the solution is a borehole with a submersible pump.
- Needs extra planning: a lot of iron or manganese in the water. The spike well filter then clogs faster, and the house needs water treatment, or a deeper aquifer should be considered.
Comparison with other options: spike well or borehole and dug well or spike well.
Spike well installation for a private house
For a house lived in all year, the spike well is only the start. The water has to reach the tap at an even pressure, and the system has to survive winter.
- Pump station with a pressure tank: the pump switches on by pressure, the pressure tank evens out the pressure and reduces how often the pump switches on. We explain the choice on the water pumps and pressure tanks page.
- Pipe to the house: below frost depth or insulated, with a heating cable if the trench is shallow.
- Place for the pump: in a warm room in the house, not outside. If the house has a basement, the spike well can be installed right there: spike well in a basement.
- Water quality: before drinking, it is worth checking the water with water testing. The laboratory compares the results with the limit values of Cabinet Regulation No. 547 on drinking water, for example iron 200 µg/l, nitrates 50 mg/l, E. coli 0.
If you need the whole system from the spike well to the tap, we build it together: water supply system for a private house.
Cabinet Regulation No. 547 of 26.09.2023 “Mandatory Safety and Quality Requirements for Drinking Water, and the Procedures for Monitoring and Control Thereof”, sub-point 4.5: it does not apply to an individual water source used by fewer than 50 people or from which on average no more than 10 m³ per day is taken. Laboratories use its limit values (Annex 1) for comparison. Source: likumi.lv, checked 03.11.2026.
How the work goes
- Request In the form, give the address, whether the water is needed for a house, a summer house or a garden, and, if you know it, the depth of the neighbours' spike wells. After you submit the form, we contact you within 5 minutes.
- The spot We choose a spot that machinery can reach, as far as possible from the septic tank, toilet, compost and rainwater drainage points, and check that there are no cables or pipes under it.
- Drilling or driving Depending on the soil, we drive the spike well in, or first drill a hole and insert the pipe into it. After each section we add the next one and seal the threads, so that there are no air leaks in the joints.
- Pumping out When the filter has reached the water-bearing layer, we pump the spike well out until the water runs clear. In the first minutes the water comes with sand and cloudiness, and that is normal.
- Connection If ordered, we install the pump or pump station, the non-return valve and the pipe to the house. We tell you at what depth the filter is and where the water level stands.
Usually the spike well itself is ready in one working day. If the soil at the first spot turns out to be clay or stones, we say so straight away and agree whether to try another spot or choose another solution.
What a spike well costs and what the price includes
A spike well with installation costs from €350, usually €350–650. The price includes the pipes, filter, drilling or driving and pumping out. The price is set by the depth to the water-bearing layer, the soil and access to the spot.
| Work or part | In the price | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Spike well: pipes, filter, drilling, pumping out | included | from €350, usually €350–650 |
| Surface pump or pump station | separately | chosen by consumption |
| Pressure tank | separately | for a house where water is used all year |
| Pipe and trench to the house | separately | depends on the distance |
| Frost protection: insulation, heating cable | separately | if the pipe is shallow or the pump is outside the house |
| Water test, filters | separately | as needed |
All prices in one place: prices.
Documents: in the regulations a spike well is a borehole
Building code LBN 222-15 counts the driven well, as the regulations call a spike well, among water abstraction boreholes. So the same rules apply to a spike well as to a shallow borehole.
- No subsoil use licence is needed if the borehole is no deeper than 20 m and no more than 10 m³ of water is to be taken per day. A house spike well usually meets both conditions.
- Water abstraction boreholes are first-group engineering structures. Cabinet Regulation No. 253 (engineering structures) provides for an explanatory memorandum (paskaidrojuma raksts) for a new first-group engineering structure, submitted to the municipal building authority (būvvalde).
- The State Environmental Service's explanatory diagrams describe the steps differently, so before the job ask your municipality's building authority what it requires. On the borehole passport, read the borehole passport page; on registration, the borehole registration page.
- At state level no distance is set from a well or spike well to a septic tank, and no protection zone is set around a well for your own use, if the surroundings are kept tidy and wastewater does not soak into the ground. Good practice is to choose a spot as far from wastewater as possible.
Sources: building code LBN 222-15 “Water Supply Structures” (Cabinet Regulation No. 326), point 64; the law “On Subterranean Depths”, Section 11, paragraph one, point 2; Cabinet Regulation No. 500 (General Construction Regulations), Annex 1, sub-points 3.1.14 and 3.1.32; Cabinet Regulation No. 253 (engineering structures), point 6.², sub-point 1; the Protection Zone Law, Section 9, paragraph two. All available on likumi.lv, checked 03.11.2026.
Other spike well jobs
- Spike well for a summer house: seasonal use and preparing for winter.
- Spike well in a basement: the spike well in the house, the pump in the warm, no trench.
- Spike well for garden watering: how much water a lawn needs and which pump suits.
- Spike well cleaning, when there is less and less water.
- Spike well repair: filter replacement, pipes and joints.
- Spike well not giving water: causes and what to check yourself.
Where we work
We work all over Riga and the Riga region, for example in Ķekava, Salaspils, Ādaži and Mārupe. We describe the water situation of each place on its page: where we work.