A Homeowner's Water Resilience Checklist

Water security in Johannesburg has become a practical concern rather than a distant worry. With Johannesburg Water reporting non-revenue water of 44.8% in its 2024/25 audited figures — meaning nearly half the treated water never reaches a paying customer — and the city’s reservoir system holding only roughly 27 hours of citywide storage buffer, any disruption cascades quickly into household taps running dry. This checklist walks you through the sensible order of upgrades, so you spend money where it counts first.

Why order matters

The single most common mistake homeowners make is jumping straight to a borehole without first solving their immediate storage gap. A borehole takes weeks to drill, test and commission. A storage tank can be installed in a day. Working through the layers below in sequence means you have usable protection at each stage, and you are not undoing earlier work when you move to the next.

For broader context on how each of these solutions fits into Johannesburg’s water landscape, the WaterQuotes blog is a useful starting point before you start phoning installers.

Layer 1 — Short-term emergency storage (start here)

Before spending anything significant, buy yourself time. A few large food-grade containers or a small static tank — filled when pressure is good — covers multi-day outages for drinking and cooking without any pump, filtration or installation.

What to check:

• Do you have at least 20–30 litres of clean drinking water per person accessible without electricity? (South Africans use on average about 237 litres per person per day in total, but survival needs are far lower — roughly 5 litres drinking, 15 litres sanitation.)
• Is your container food-grade and sealed against contamination?
• Do you have a rotation plan so water does not sit stagnant for months?

This costs almost nothing and is the fastest win. Once it is sorted, move on.

Layer 2 — Tank-and-pump backup system

A gravity tank or pump-fed holding tank with an automatic switchover is the backbone of most Johannesburg resilience setups. When municipal supply drops, the system draws from stored reserves without you noticing.

What to check:

• Tank capacity: as a rough guide, 2,500–5,000 litres covers a typical household for two to four days at normal usage. Confirm your household’s actual consumption before sizing.
• Pump and controller: does the system switch automatically on pressure loss, and does it have a dry-run protection cut-out?
• Placement: is the tank positioned so the pump head is practical and the feed pipes are frost-protected in winter?
• Cost reference: backup tank-and-pump systems typically run R20,000–R40,000 for a standard setup; whole-house configurations with larger tanks have been quoted around R55,000. Get at least three written quotes before committing.

If you are trying to decide whether to stop at a tank system or push further to a borehole, the comparison article upgrading from a backup tank to a borehole sets out the practical crossover points honestly.

If you are ready to price up a tank-and-pump system, it pays to compare what different installers are actually quoting right now. Compare 3 free quotes — vetted installers, no obligation.

Layer 3 — Borehole (if your site and budget warrant it)

A borehole removes dependence on municipal supply for garden irrigation and, with appropriate filtration, for household use. It is not right for every property — geology in parts of Johannesburg can mean low yield or poor water quality — and it is a meaningful capital commitment.

What to check:

• Yield investigation first: a basic hydro-geological desktop assessment before drilling saves money on dry holes. Ask installers whether they do this or whether you need a separate hydrogeologist.
• Drilling and casing: typical complete borehole systems in Johannesburg run R40,000–R150,000, with most falling between R60,000 and R100,000. Borehole pumps typically cost R15,000–R35,000 installed. Confirm all-in pricing in writing.
• Water test before use: borehole water is not automatically safe. A laboratory test against SANS 241 (2024 edition), South Africa’s drinking-water quality standard, is essential before connecting to your household supply.
• Registration: in Gauteng, boreholes should be registered with the Department of Water and Sanitation. Ask your installer whether this is included in their service.
• Maintenance schedule: pump seals, borehole camera inspections and periodic water retesting are recurring costs. Factor them in.

For guidance on what to do in the period between placing a borehole order and it going live — or during any extended supply disruption — preparing for a multi-day outage covers the practical interim steps.

Layer 4 — Filtration matched to your source

Filtration requirements depend entirely on what you are filtering. Municipal water that meets SANS 241 (2024 edition) needs far less treatment than untested borehole water. Matching the system to the source avoids over-engineering and under-engineering in equal measure.

What to check:

Source	Minimum sensible treatment	Notes
Municipal only	Sediment pre-filter	Mainly for taste and particulate during disruptions
Municipal with tank storage	Sediment + UV or chlorine dosing	Stored water can harbour bacterial growth
Borehole (household use)	Lab test first, then specify	Iron, manganese, hardness and microbial risk vary by site
Borehole (drinking only)	Reverse osmosis or equivalent	Confirm against your specific lab results

Do not buy a filtration system before you have a water test result. Any installer who specifies a system without seeing your water quality data is guessing.

Layer 5 — Maintenance and monitoring (the forgotten layer)

A resilience system that is not maintained fails precisely when you need it. This layer costs very little but is skipped most often.

What to check:

• Tank inspection: quarterly visual check for algae, sediment and seal integrity.
• Pump test: run the system off municipal supply at least monthly so you know it works before an outage forces the issue.
• Filter replacement: follow manufacturer schedules, not guesswork.
• Water retesting: if you use borehole water for drinking, retest annually or after any nearby construction or chemical use.
• Keep records: a simple log of test dates, filter changes and service visits is useful if you sell the property or need to troubleshoot a problem.

Once your checklist is clear, getting real installer quotes is the next step — prices vary more than most homeowners expect. Get free backup system quotes — vetted installers, no obligation.

Putting the checklist together

The right sequence is: emergency storage first, then a tank-and-pump system, then a borehole if your site supports it, then filtration matched to what the lab tells you about your water, and finally a maintenance routine that keeps everything working. At each stage you have meaningful protection. At no stage do you spend money on a higher layer before the lower one is solid.

Johannesburg’s water infrastructure pressures are not easing quickly. The 44.8% non-revenue water figure and the city’s shallow storage buffer mean that household-level resilience is increasingly a practical necessity rather than a luxury upgrade. Working through this checklist in order is the most cost-effective way to get there.