PMB is what most people call Pietermaritzburg, and the ground under it is Ecca Group shale cut by dolerite intrusions.
The shale gives very little on its own. Everything worth drilling for sits along the dolerite contacts.
What Is Under PMB
The formations below are what a rig actually meets on a PMB 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pietermaritzburg Formation shale | The valley floor and the lower slopes around the city | A poor aquifer in its own right. Yields off the shale alone are low, and the useful water is in the structures cutting through it. |
| Karoo dolerite sills and dykes | Intruded throughout the sequence, often forming the higher ground | The prime drilling targets in the Midlands. Dolerite contact zones are where the productive water sits. |
| Vryheid Formation sandstone | Higher in the sequence on the surrounding ground | A better aquifer than the shale, fractured and moderately productive where a hole intersects it. |
Send your street and what the water is for, and get an itemised quote for PMB.
Get a PMB Borehole QuoteWhat That Means for Your Borehole
- Dolerite contacts are the target, and finding them is what siting is for on Midlands ground.
- Shale-only positions are the common disappointment, which is why a hole drilled without siting here is a genuine gamble.
- Yields are moderate where a contact is intersected and poor where one is not. There is not much middle ground.
Where We Work Around PMB
- The CBD and the Msunduzi valley floor
- Scottsville, Pelham and the university side
- Hayfields, Lincoln Meade and Bisley
- Chase Valley and the northern slopes
- Ashburton and the eastern smallholdings
- Howick and Hilton on the escarpment above town
What to Watch For Here
Two holes on the same street can behave completely differently, because one caught a dolerite contact and the other stayed in shale. That is the whole story here.
Msunduzi is the registering authority, not eThekwini, and people moving up from the coast often assume the Durban rules apply. They do not.
What the Water Is Used For
- Irrigating established gardens and mature trees
- Topping up the pool, subject to what the analysis says
- Washing paving, vehicles and hard surfaces
- Standby supply when municipal water is interrupted
- Reducing a monthly municipal water bill
Wellpoint or Borehole?
Not viable on shale or dolerite. Where a property sits on genuine river alluvium with a shallow water table the question is worth asking, but that is the exception here rather than the rule.
Water Quality in PMB
Water associated with dolerite contacts is generally good quality and moderately hard. Shale groundwater is more mineralised and can be brackish. Nitrate is worth testing for on smallholdings and older properties with historical septic systems.
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
Registration sits with your local municipality, and the requirement is not identical to eThekwini's, so confirm it locally before drilling. The National Water Act applies regardless: reasonable domestic use generally falls under Schedule 1, while irrigation, agricultural or commercial abstraction may require registration or a water use authorisation from the Department of Water and Sanitation. 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 PMB
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 - R1,100 /m | Dolerite is hard drilling; shale is faster but yields poorly. Depth depends on where the contact sits. |
| uPVC casing, installed, per metre | R400 - R750 /m | Weathered shale is unstable and casing through it is standard practice. |
| Mobilisation and site establishment | R3,000 - R11,000 | 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 - R195,000+ | 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.
PMB Borehole FAQs
Is a PMB borehole different to a Durban one?
Completely. Durban's coastal suburbs draw from sand at shallow depth with screened casing. PMB sits on Ecca shale where the water is in fractured dolerite, so the holes are deeper and the siting matters far more.
Anyone quoting PMB off a Durban rate card has not looked at the ground. The two are not comparable.
Why do some PMB boreholes fail completely?
Because the hole missed the dolerite. Shale on its own is close to useless as an aquifer, so a hole that does not intersect an intrusion or its fractured margin can come up effectively dry.
A geophysical survey is not an upsell in this town. It is the difference between a working borehole and an expensive hole in the ground.
Why does siting matter so much around PMB?
Because the shale that underlies much of the area is a poor aquifer, and almost all the productive water is associated with dolerite contacts cutting through it.
A hole sited on shale alone is likely to disappoint at any depth. Geophysics targets the contacts, and on Midlands ground that is the difference between a working borehole and a written-off one.
What yield is realistic near PMB?
Moderate where a dolerite contact is intersected, and poor where one is not. The distribution is quite binary on this ground compared with a primary sand aquifer.
Yield testing after drilling establishes the real sustainable rate, and the pump and storage are then sized to that figure rather than to a hopeful one.
NEED A BOREHOLE IN PMB?
Send your street and what you need the water for, and get an itemised quote.
Get My Free QuoteGet a Borehole Quote in PMB
Tell us where you are and what the water is for.
Client Reviews
Powered by leaderr
