A summer house usually needs just a spike well and a simple pump, with no pressure tank and no deep trench. Installation costs from €350. Send a request with your address and what you know about your neighbours' spike wells.
What is different at a summer house compared with a home
At a summer house water is used for a few months, and in winter the system stands empty. This changes both the equipment and the way we install the spike well:
- Consumption is small, so a surface pump with a switch or a small pump station is enough. A pressure tank is needed only if the summer house has taps and a shower with constant pressure.
- If there is no electricity, or only some of the time, the spike well can be fitted with a hand pump. It works on the same vacuum principle, and later it can be replaced with an electric one.
- In winter the pump and pipes must hold no water, so we build the system to be easy to drain: with a slope and a drain cock at the lowest point.
- Use the water for drinking only after a water test. In garden allotments the plots are small, and neighbours' toilets and compost heaps are often nearby.
A spot for the spike well on a small plot
At national level there is no set distance from a spike well to a toilet or septic tank, and no protection zone is set around a well for one's own use, if the surroundings are kept tidy and wastewater does not soak into the ground. That does not mean the spot does not matter. On a small plot we look for a place as far as possible from your own and your neighbours' toilets, compost and wastewater, preferably higher than them.
We also take access into account. Streets in garden allotments are narrow, so we work with compact machinery or drive the spike well by hand. Tell us in your request whether a car can reach the spot and whether there are trees, paths or buried cables nearby.
The Protection Zone Law, Section 9, paragraph two: no protection zones are set for boreholes, wells and springs that individuals use for their own needs, if the site has been landscaped and wastewater infiltration and water pollution have been prevented. Source: likumi.lv, checked 03.11.2026.
How to prepare a spike well for winter
- Switch off the power Switch off the pump and disconnect it from the electricity.
- Drain the water Open the drain plug on the pump and, if there is one, on the pressure tank. Empty the above-ground pipes and hoses.
- Keep the pump somewhere warm If the pump stands in an unheated shed, it is better to remove it and keep it in the house. Water freezing in the pump casing can crack it.
- Free the spike well pipe If the non-return valve is on the spike well, remove or open it. The water in the pipe will drop to the groundwater level, and little will remain in the frost zone. Insulate the above-ground end of the spike well.
- Prime it in spring Connect the pump, fill it with water through the priming port and check the joints for leaks. If the pump does not draw water, read the page spike well not giving water.
How the work is done at a summer house
The work is the same as at a home, only on a smaller scale. We choose the spot, drive or drill the spike well down to the water-bearing layer, pump it out until the water is clear and connect the pump. If needed, we lay the pipe to the summer house shallow and with a slope, since it is drained in winter anyway. More on spike well design and the course of the work: spike well.
The most convenient time is from spring to autumn, when the ground is not frozen. If you install the spike well in autumn, it can be started, tested and prepared for winter straight away, and in spring it will be ready to use.
Does a summer house spike well need documents
In the regulations a spike well is a water abstraction borehole, whether the house is seasonal or permanent. A subsoil use licence is not needed if the borehole is no deeper than 20 m and no more than 10 m³ of water is intended to be extracted per day; a summer house spike well usually meets both conditions. Check the construction documents for a new borehole with your municipal building authority (būvvalde), as we explain on the page spike well.
LBN 222-15 (Cabinet Regulation No. 326), point 64: driven wells are water abstraction boreholes. The law “On Subterranean Depths”, Section 11, paragraph one, point 2: no licence up to 20 m deep if no more than 10 m³ is extracted per day. Sources: likumi.lv, checked 03.11.2026.
How much a spike well for a summer house costs
Spike well installation costs from €350, usually €350–650. At a summer house the total is often lower than for a home, because no pressure tank, long insulated pipe or heating is needed. The price depends on the depth to the water-bearing layer, the soil and access. The pump or hand pump and the pipe to the summer house are charged separately. All prices: prices.