Households using borehole water for non-commercial, reasonable domestic purposes do not need to register under the current national water-use registration process, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) said on Thursday.
Following engagements with the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) to secure clarity after widespread public confusion following Government Notice 54575 and the department's 90-day registration campaign, the organisation confirmed that Schedule 1 of the National Water Act allowed certain low-impact water uses without the need for a water-use licence or formal registration.
These include reasonable domestic household use, watering a small non-commercial garden, watering livestock within normal grazing limits, harvesting rainwater, using water during emergencies and certain recreational water uses.
There is no prescribed volume threshold for domestic groundwater use. The deciding factor is whether the use is reasonable and non-commercial.
“Many homeowners who depend on boreholes because of unreliable municipal water services believed they could face penalties or even criminal prosecution if they failed to register. South Africans should not have to fear prosecution simply because they installed a borehole to keep water flowing when municipal systems fail,” said Outa executive manager Julius Kleynhans.
