Borehole Connections Night mare

Hello Peter

I recently drilled a borehole on my property to stop using municipality water as l had started getting ridiculous water bills from the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) – as high as R8 100. I was referred to a company called Waterworld Drilling and Exploration ( *** & *** - Basil) by a colleague from University. There are so many companies offering to drill boreholes and removing people from the municipality grid – so l thought a good reference will suffice.

I paid a water surveyor R3 000 to survey for the water and fortunately for me water was found on the property. I then contacted the CEO of Waterworld Drilling and Exploration – Basil Madlose who was too eager to provide a quote. I got a quote for R73 000 which was to cover borehole drilling,casing and all the required connections to the house including the Jojo tank – though l later opted to get the Jojo tank from COJ for R4 200 for a 5 250l – I had been quoted R5 200l for a 5 000l. I told Basil that l did not have the money but that l would approach my bank for a loan as it was critical for me to be disconnected from COJ.

My borehole was drilled on Tuesday the 11th of May 2021 to a depth of 110m. There were many hits and strikes of water all the way from 75m to 110m but l decided to go all the way to 110m as per the water surveyor’s recommendations. The company (Maritime drilling – 064 ***) drilled from 07:00am to 15:00hours and they were done. Bravo and well done to Maritime Drilling!!! There was so much water – I was excited. I was elated and very excited. My excitement was however shortlived. By 10:00am on Wednesday nobody was onsite to continue with the flashing of water and commence with the connections to the main house. I called Basil to ask him what was happening and he informed me that they were busy buying materials and supplies for the connections and they eventually showed up at 12:00 noon. The borehole technician whose name is Jordan began flashing the water and started working on the connections. They left at 16:00 after working for only 4 hours. On Thursday again l had to call Basil when there was no one on site by 11:00 to find out what was happening. I was informed that they were still buying more supplies which was poor planning in my opinion. I asked Basil why they had not reserved Wednesday for buying parts so that they could dedicate Thursday and Friday to working on site. There was no response except that we are on our way. Thursday, they arrived at 13:00 hours and when I opened the gate they were sitting on my lawn eating their lunch and started working when they had taken their energy drinks which was a concern because the team looked tired like they had been working elsewhere. Jordan flashed the borehole again and started working on connecting the borehole to the Jojo tank –( the Jojo tank l bought from Builders warehouse instead of using theirs. It was cheaper at Builders Warehouse). The team left at 16:00 again after working for only three hours. They also left litter on the premises and when cleaning l noticed a bottle of beer which the CEO had been drinking on site – Imagine a whole CEO getting a tender only to go drink on site instead of supervising work that’s being done and that the customer has paid for? I was shocked.

On Friday when l expected the team to be on site by 09:00 to start working since all the parts and supplies were bought they showed up at 12:00 again and this time worked until 7pm. The team left abruptly on Friday and informed me that l had Borehole water to the house and that it was safe to use. The main point used to connect the borehole water to the house was a T- connection to the outside tap (outside my kitchen) which then fed the entire house. I told Basil that there was extreme pressure from the kitchen tapes but that the pressure was not evenly distributed. There was very little pressure in the bathroom and the garden tapes had little pressure. This concern was ignored. We continued using the borehole water for everything including cooking and drinking from Friday the 14th of May 2021. There was no explanation of how the borehole worked and what l should expect and what to look out for. I was left high and dry even though this was new technology for me. I also asked why the booster pump was always making noise and I was told by Basil that that’s how the booster pump works it regularly makes noise. It was odd because the noise would happen even when no taps were switched on and the Jojo tank was full. I was told to get used to the sound. By Friday the 28th of May 2021 my helper and gardener fell seriously ill with a running tummy and vomiting. I got some off the counter medicine from Dischem and the gardener recovered by Sunday but my helper was not in good shape and she was deteriorating.

On Sunday 30 May 2021, I also noticed that the booster pump was making noise nonstop and it was unbearable. I called Basil at 2pm and he advised that he would pass by the house later and advised me to be switching the borehole on only when l needed water to the house, otherwise to switch it off. Basil never showed up on Sunday. Monday 31 May 2021 he sent a message that he would come later but never showed up. By this time my helper was now very ill and l decided to take her to my private GP where l was charged R730 for her treatment and the doctor advised that we buy water until our borehole water was tested. I went to a shop that sells water at my shopping centre and paid R350 for 200L of water. The manager in the shop also offered to come to my house and check how the filters were connected as it was unusual for people to get sick if the filters were properly installed. The manager found out that the filters were extremely filthy. Basil did not come again on Monday. We continued switching the booster pump on and off as and when we needed water which was frustrating but Basil could not be bothered. He was busy drilling a borehole somewhere. Tuesday Basil was unreachable and the pump just stopped and l had no choice but to switch from the borehole water to COJ. Basil was not answering his phone. Wednesday l was now a very angry customer. I sent Basil a stern message that if he did not come to fix my borehole l was going to report him.

Basil called me and told me he could not get a hold of Jordan and that maybe Jordan was dead. He also indicated that he was clueless about the borehole connections and that I should call Jordan to come and check what was wrong. I had to remind Basil that my contract was with him and that if no one comes l was going to get an accredited borehole driller for a second opinion and take it from there. By this time l had also realized that there was an underground leak as the COJ meter had moved by 10KL just between Tuesday evening and Wednesday evening so l was now switching the COJ metre on and off until Basil showed up with his team on Wednesday evening and switched on the booster pump without explaining what they were doing. They opened the borehole manhole and noted that it was not properly closed and that they were leaks that they had to fix. The filters were also very dirty. Jordan came and did his work. He answered some of the questions l had satisfactorily but on some of them he was more defensive. I asked why they had not come after a few days to check if everything was fine and check for any leaks considering we were noting leaks and that the borehole had stressed the customer. His answer was that they were now busy on other jobs and had no capacity to be checking on old work. On the dirty filters he advised that l should get myself three new filters for R220 (R80 + R140 +R80) and replace the dirty ones – l asked them why they had quoted me R1 800 for filters if they were that cheap and l got no answer. There was no explanation as to what had made the filters so dirty in two weeks. I also asked if the filters were working why was my helper and gardener sick and they became defensive and said the leaks on my property had caused the contamination to the water. This was a ridiculous explanation as the borehole was feeding water directly to the kitchen from where we were getting the cooking and drinking water. We had also taken an extra caution to boil the water before drinking.

I realized Basil and Jordan were never going to give me honest responses and were taking advantage because my knowledge on the workings of the borehole was limited. I decided to engaged an accredited borehole driller who came to my house on Friday the 4th of June just to do a review of what was done on my borehole and the connections to the house. I gave him the drilling report and a tour of the borehole set up and below are his findings: 1. The borehole water was contaminated and needed to be flushed again for R920. This is because Jordan did not close the casing properly the water was exposed for a good three weeks and in between there was rains. 2. The filter between the borehole and the Jojo tank is small as a result water getting into the Jojo tank is still dirty and has particles . This has to be replaced at a cost of R350. Two disc filters at R350 each. 3. The filters must be replaced immediately after only three weeks of use at a cost of R600 4. Labor is R1 500. 5. The submersible pump (0.75kw) is small for a 110m borehole but l was charged R3 500. I have been informed that the R3 500 is a price for a bigger pump not the 0.75kw. Its working for now but will have to be replaced by a bigger one later on. 6. I must spend R4 278 inclusive of VAT to fix mistakes and shortcuts during the boreholes installation and connections to the house just within three weeks of installation because Waterworld Drilling and Exploration has become very defensive and are not willing to part with money to fix problems and challenges on their work. HOW SELFISH!!!!! THEY ARE FORGETTING THAT I BORROWED MONEY TO PAY THEM TO DRILL A BOREHOLE FOR ME. MONEY THAT I DID NOT EVEN HAVE.

My relationship with Basil and Jordan is irretrievably broken and l do not expect anything from them. I am here to warm others who may want to drill boreholes to use accredited borehole drillers and not put their healthy in jeopardy by using fly by companies like WaterWorld Drilling and Exploration. This company’s CEO is ********* – overcharged for materials and installed inappropriate connections when considering the depth of the borehole. Also get different quotes from different accredited borehole water drillers. Good luck. Also test borehole water before using it for cooking and drinking. Your health your responsibility.

Use companies that are patient and prepared to walk you through the journey of how your new technology will work. I was appalled at the level of arrogance l got for the CEO of Waterworld Drilling and Exploration as well as their borehole technician!!