Bedfordview borders Linksfield Ridge, part of the Witwatersrand quartzite and shale ridges. Northern parts approach the dome granite of the Edenvale side, while the gold mining belt toward Germiston lies to the south.
Large freestanding homes on generous stands are typical, along with security estates, the Gillooly's Farm park beside the interchange, and a busy commercial node around the Bedford Centre.
What Is Under Bedfordview
| Formation | Where it sits | What it means for drilling |
|---|---|---|
| West Rand Group quartzite | Forming the ridge crests and the dip slopes to the south | Slow, costly metres. Whether the hole produces depends on meeting a fracture zone, not on total depth. |
| Shale bands, including magnetic shale | Between the hard quartzite layers, forming the gentler slopes and hollows | Quicker metres. The contact between shale and quartzite is often worth targeting. |
| Colluvium and outcrop | Footslopes and the upper stands near the crest | Irregular, bouldery ground that complicates set-up and the top of the hole. |
Send your street and what the water is for, and get an itemised quote for Bedfordview.
Get a Bedfordview Borehole QuoteWhat That Means for Your Borehole
- Siting carries more weight here than almost anywhere because the rock between fractures is dry.
- Holes on the lower slopes are often quicker where shale replaces quartzite.
- The top of the hole needs care because boulder and scree cover must be cased through.
Where We Work Around Bedfordview
- Linksfield Ridge side
- Gillooly's Farm surrounds
- Bedford Gardens
- Senderwood
- Essexwold
- Morninghill
- Bedford Centre commercial area
What to Watch For Here
Ekurhuleni has its own approval route. Bedfordview falls under the City of Ekurhuleni, not Johannesburg. Authorisation is needed before drilling, with applications reviewed by the City Planning Department's Dolomite Section and by Water Demand Management, so owners should confirm current requirements with the metro and allow time for that review before booking a rig.
The mining belt lies to the south. Toward Germiston the Central Rand reefs and old workings bring undermined ground and the risk of acid mine drainage in groundwater. Southern Bedfordview properties closer to that belt should have the water tested thoroughly, including pH, sulphate and metals, before using it for anything sensitive such as drinking, cooking or filling a fish pond.
What the Water Is Used For
- Irrigating large gardens on generous Bedfordview stands
- Shared irrigation for security estate landscaping
- Pool filling and top ups through summer
- Backup supply for homes during Ekurhuleni outages
- Watering grounds at offices and retail sites
Wellpoint or Borehole?
Not an option. There is nothing here for a driven point to penetrate, and no shallow sand water table. Drill instead.
Approval and Abstraction
Bedfordview falls under the City of Ekurhuleni. Both main metros require approval before drilling. The City of Johannesburg requires an application to its Environment and Infrastructure Services Department, and an approved application comes with a drilling certificate that has to be kept on site while the rig works; drilling without one risks a fine and impoundment of equipment. The City of Ekurhuleni requires authorisation, with applications reviewed by its Dolomite Section and by Water Demand Management. Elsewhere, including Mogale City, confirm the municipality's current requirements. Separately, the National Water Act governs how much you may abstract: reasonable domestic use generally falls under Schedule 1, and in 2026 the Department of Water and Sanitation confirmed that households using borehole water for reasonable domestic purposes do not need to register nationally. Commercial, agricultural and larger abstraction may need registration or a water use authorisation. Rules change, so confirm the current position before drilling.
Related Services
For the drilling process itself, the geology across the wider area and how a quote is put together, see Borehole Drilling Johannesburg.
Nearby Areas
Borehole Prices in This Area
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 | R600 - R1,400 /m | Quartzite is hard on bits and slow. Holes on the crest sit at the top of the range, those on shale footslopes lower. |
| uPVC casing, installed, per metre | R400 - R700 /m | Depends on the scree and boulder cover, which changes sharply across a single stand. |
| 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 - R220,000+ | 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 - 2026 guides quote per-metre drilling rates for Gauteng ranging from under R300/m to R1,500/m, a spread of more than five to one - 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.
Bedfordview Borehole FAQs
What rock lies under Bedfordview and Linksfield Ridge?
Linksfield Ridge is made of quartzite interleaved with shale, hard rock in which water is found in fractures and along bedding. The shale drills noticeably faster than the quartzite, and each hole can show a different mix.
Northern Bedfordview may lie nearer the Edenvale granite, and the south grades toward the Germiston mining belt, so conditions vary across the suburb.
Who approves a borehole in Bedfordview?
The City of Ekurhuleni. Its Dolomite Section and Water Demand Management review applications, and drilling should wait until authorisation is granted, even on a large private stand where the rig would not be seen from the street.
Nationally, reasonable household use generally falls under Schedule 1, while commercial sites such as offices or retail centres may need DWS registration.
Is water from a borehole in southern Bedfordview affected by the mines?
It may be. The Germiston side lies within the Central Rand basin, where rising water in old workings can turn acidic and pick up sulphate, iron, manganese and assorted dissolved metals.
A comprehensive lab analysis is the only way to know, and it should be done before the water goes anywhere beyond the garden. Northern stands on the ridge are further from the belt, but testing still makes sense.
Is a large Bedfordview garden a good fit for a borehole?
Big stands give room for the rig and tend to have the highest irrigation demand, especially from August to October, when gardens are driest and the summer storms have not yet arrived.
Yields on ridge rock vary widely, so the system should be sized after a pump test, with storage to bridge gaps. Grouping thirsty plants and switching lawns to timed watering also helps a modest hole go further.
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