Faerie Glen sits below the Bronberg ridge on Pretoria Group rocks, with quartzite above and shale with diabase intrusions below.
Position relative to the ridge affects both the depth and the prospects on a given stand.
What Is Under Faerie Glen
The formations below are what a rig actually meets on a Faerie Glen property, and between them they govern the depth, the casing requirement and what the hole will realistically give you.
| Formation | Where it sits | What it means for drilling |
|---|---|---|
| Pretoria Group quartzite | The Magaliesberg and Daspoort ridges running through and around the suburb | Hard, fractured and a reasonable aquifer where the hole intersects fracturing. Hammer drilling throughout, and good quality water where it produces. |
| Timeball Hill and Silverton shale | The valleys between the quartzite ridges | A poor aquifer in itself. Yields off shale alone are low, and the useful water is in structures cutting through it. |
| Diabase sills and dykes | Intruded through the sequence, often following the valleys | The contact between diabase and the host rock is the prime target in this part of Pretoria. Siting is largely about finding those contacts. |
Send your street and what the water is for, and get an itemised quote for Faerie Glen.
Get a Faerie Glen Borehole QuoteWhat That Means for Your Borehole
- Contact zones are the target, not depth. Diabase contacts and fracture zones produce; the shale and the unfractured quartzite between them do not.
- Yields are moderate and variable. A sustainable few cubic metres an hour is a normal good result on this ground.
- A survey earns its place here. Structure-targeted geophysics is what separates a productive position from an expensive dry hole.
Where We Work Around Faerie Glen
- Faerie Glen and the Bronberg slopes
- Garsfontein and Olympus boundaries
- Faerie Glen Nature Reserve side
- Lynnwood Ridge approaches
- Wapadrand-facing streets
- Larger stands on the upper side
What to Watch For Here
Ridge-side stands drill deeper before reaching a productive structure, which shows up as metres rather than as a different per-metre rate.
The Bronberg is a protected ridge, and environmental restrictions can apply to properties on and adjacent to it.
What the Water Is Used For
- Irrigation for large gardens and estate grounds
- Entrance landscaping and common-area planting
- Keeping the pool level up, subject to the water analysis
- Standby supply for larger properties
- Washing down driveways, paving and vehicles
Wellpoint or Borehole?
Not viable. There is no shallow saturated sand aquifer under this ground, and hard rock at or near surface gives a driven point nothing to work with. A drilled hole is the only route.
Water Quality in Faerie Glen
Water off the quartzite is generally good quality and moderately hard. Water associated with shale is more mineralised. Nitrate is worth testing for on older properties with historical septic systems, and iron shows up often enough to be worth checking before plumbing anything indoors.
A water analysis is what turns that from a general expectation into a number for your specific hole, and treatment should be specified against the result rather than against the area's reputation.
Registration and Abstraction
Boreholes in the City of Tshwane are subject to municipal registration, and the City's water by-laws prohibit any cross-connection between borehole water and the municipal supply. Above that, the National Water Act governs abstraction: reasonable domestic use generally falls under Schedule 1, while larger volumes may need registration or a water use authorisation from the Department of Water and Sanitation. Confirm the current position before drilling. Requirements change, so confirm your position before drilling.
Related Services
For the drilling process itself, the geology across the rest of the country and how a quote is put together, see Borehole Installers South Africa.
Borehole Prices in Faerie Glen
Drilling is charged per metre, so depth drives the total. The ranges below are framed for local ground conditions and access.
| Item | Indicative range | What moves it locally |
|---|---|---|
| Drilling, per metre | R450 - R1,000 /m | Quartzite and diabase are hard drilling. Depth to a productive structure varies across a single suburb. |
| uPVC casing, installed, per metre | R400 - R700 /m | The weathered zone above fresh rock needs casing, and its thickness varies with position on the ridge. |
| Mobilisation and site establishment | R2,500 - R9,000 | Access and site conditions move this; a site visit settles it before quoting. |
| Water survey | R5,000 - R12,000 | Targets structure rather than depth. Worth most where yield is fracture-dependent. |
| Yield testing | R3,500 - R15,000 | Establishes the sustainable rate that pump selection depends on. |
| Pump, supplied and installed | R15,000 - R45,000 | Greater depth means more head, which means a larger pump and heavier cable. |
| Storage and booster | R12,000 - R35,000 | Needed wherever peak demand exceeds the borehole's sustainable rate. |
| Typical complete project | R75,000 - R200,000+ | Everything above, excluding treatment, which depends entirely on the water analysis. |
These are indicative ranges, not a quotation. They are compiled from published South African supplier and contractor pricing to give you a starting point for budgeting. They are not our rate card, and no figure here is a commitment.
Treat them as a broad guide only. Published borehole pricing in South Africa varies enormously - different 2026 guides quote per-metre drilling rates for the same province that differ by a factor of three - because depth, geology, access, specification, distance and fuel costs all move the number. Depth in particular is not known until the hole is finished. Figures generally exclude VAT unless noted, and change over time. Only an itemised written quote against your actual site means anything.
Faerie Glen Borehole FAQs
Does the Bronberg ridge affect drilling in Faerie Glen?
It affects both the geology and, on some properties, the permitting. Ridge-side stands sit on harder quartzite with greater depth to a productive structure.
The ridge also carries environmental protections in places, which is worth confirming before planning anything on a property adjacent to it.
How long does drilling take in Faerie Glen?
The drilling itself is generally a day or two on a straightforward site, with hard quartzite sections slowing it where they are encountered.
The whole project runs longer: siting beforehand, then yield testing, pump installation and connection afterwards. Testing is the step most worth not skipping.
What is a realistic borehole yield in Faerie Glen?
Moderate. On Pretoria Group ground a sustainable rate of a few cubic metres an hour is a normal good result, and it is more than enough for a large garden paired with storage.
The number that matters is the tested sustainable yield, not the flow the driller sees on the day the hole is completed. Those are routinely very different figures.
Why does siting matter so much in Faerie Glen?
Because the water is in structures rather than in the rock mass. Diabase contacts and fracture zones carry it; the shale and solid quartzite between them do not.
Geophysics targets those structures. It improves the odds materially on this ground, and it is the part of the budget most worth spending.
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