How we keep borehole and municipal water systems working between visits: logged readings, sized equipment, and maintenance routines the owner can actually follow.
Most of our work comes from referrals between neighbours on the same borehole line, or from a plumber who has already tried the obvious fixes. These are notes from people who watched the readings change.
"We had rust stains through every basin and the washing came out brown. They tested the borehole, showed us the iron number, and fitted the backwashing filter. Two weeks later the water runs clear and we stopped buying bottled water for the kitchen."
"Guests never complained, but our own lab checks after heavy rain were inconsistent. The sediment filter and UV stage were sized for the morning rush across six rooms, and the sample tap after the reactor makes quarterly testing straightforward."
"Pressure used to collapse the moment two units drew water. The booster pump and rebuilt tank stand sorted it, and they left us a cartridge change schedule we can actually follow."
References from completed sites are available on request. We pass on the contact details of clients who agreed to be called about their install.
These are notes from farms, guesthouses and body corporates we have worked with across Gauteng and the Western Cape. Each one points to a specific problem we were called out for and what changed once the filtration, pump or tank work was done.
"Our borehole was staining every basin and the washing came out brown. The team pulled a sample, showed us the iron numbers, and fitted a backwashing filter with a manganese bed. Two weeks later the water runs clear and we stopped buying bottled water for the kitchen."
Smallholding owner, Hartbeespoort
Iron and manganese removal
"After heavy rain our borehole counts went up and down, which is not something you want with guests in the house. They kept our pressure vessel and tank, added a sediment housing and a UV stage, and left a wall chart for lamp hours and cartridge swaps. Simple and it works."
Guesthouse owner, Stellenbosch
UV disinfection and sediment filtration
"Pressure used to collapse the moment two units ran a tap. The old pressure switch was cycling constantly. They fitted a variable-speed booster, rebuilt the tank stand and sized the pressure vessel properly. Trenching was marked so they missed the irrigation lines."
Trustee, body corporate, East Rand
Booster pump and JoJo tank plumbing
"We run a farm supply off a borehole and rainwater tanks. They tested both sources, set up sediment filtration ahead of the tank feed, and walked us through the readings before and after. No guesswork, just numbers on paper."
Farm manager, Western Cape
Rainwater harvesting and water testing
"Municipal supply here carries a lot of sediment and it was chewing through our cartridges. They reworked the filtration skid, added a correctly sized housing, and showed us how to read the pressure drop so we know when to change it instead of guessing."
Property manager, East Rand
Sediment filtration and pressure vessels
"The pump house was tight and we expected a mess. They mounted the skid on a raised frame, routed the drain to the existing soakaway, and left the room cleaner than they found it. Follow-up call a month later to check the readings."
Homeowner, Hartbeespoort
Filtration skid installation
Most of these come up while we are standing in a pump room or reading a lab sheet with a client. If yours is not here, the fastest route is a photo of the installation and your last water test.
Rust-brown staining on basins, tiles and laundry is the usual first sign, but the number that matters is the iron reading from a lab sample taken at the tap, not at the borehole head. We size the media bed from that figure plus the manganese result, because the two often travel together and a filter set up for iron alone will pass manganese straight through.
That is almost always a pump cycling on a pressure switch that is set too close to the cut-in point, or a pressure vessel that has lost its air charge. On a body corporate or guesthouse the fix is usually a correctly sized vessel plus a variable-speed booster, not a bigger pump. We check the switch settings and the vessel pre-charge before quoting anything.
No. UV handles bacteria and viruses, but sediment, iron and manganese will shield organisms from the lamp and foul the quartz sleeve. We always put a sediment stage ahead of the reactor and keep a sample tap after the UV so quarterly lab checks actually reflect what the household is drinking.
Two things: your most recent lab results and a photo of the pump house or tank stand. From there we can size filtration, a booster or a JoJo tank installation without a second site visit in most cases. If you do not have a lab sheet yet, we can arrange sampling on the first visit.
Our regular routes run through Hartbeespoort, the East Rand and Stellenbosch, which is where most of our pump room and trenching work sits. Projects further out are possible when the scope is clear, but travel and standby time get built into the schedule rather than hidden in the quote.
Sediment cartridges on a farm or guesthouse supply typically get swapped every two to three months, sooner after heavy rain or if the source carries visible grit. UV lamps are rated for around 9000 hours of run time, so we leave a wall chart in the pump room and log lamp hours alongside cartridge changes.
Still deciding what your setup needs? Start with the help page for the basics, or send your readings through the contact page and we will take it from there.