Gauteng Borehole Water Quality: What 123 Unsuitable Groundwater Sources Reveal
If you own a borehole in Gauteng, there’s a good chance you’ve assumed the water is fine because it looks clear and tastes normal. That assumption is exactly what this evidence project set out to test.
H₂OGuru analysed 123 conservatively deduplicated Gauteng groundwater sources that laboratory testing confirmed were unsuitable for untreated drinking use, spanning Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, the West Rand, and Sedibeng. The findings are stark: microbiological contamination was the single largest failure type, most sources showed more than one problem at once, and there is no single “typical” Gauteng borehole profile. This matters because it means treatment must follow testing, not guesswork.
What’s inside the full PDF:
- Regional failure-rate breakdowns for Tshwane, Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, West Rand, and Sedibeng
- Which contaminants are most common: microbiological, turbidity, nitrate, manganese, and more
- Why full testing must come before choosing a treatment system
- Download the PDF