On top of that, the city's detached-house areas and outskirts have homes with their own well or borehole, to which the city water rules do not apply. On this page: what sulphates mean, how to choose a filter and what to do if there is no network in your street.
What the Jelgavas ūdens checks show
Jelgavas ūdens publishes BIOR drinking water tests every month. In September 2026 (Pārlielupe primary school, Loka maģistrāle 29), total iron was below 20 µg/l (limit 200 µg/l), sulphates 221 mg/l (limit 250 mg/l), electrical conductivity 742 µS/cm and pH 7.4. In March, sulphates at two points were 222 and 220 mg/l, and in June 202 mg/l. Hardness is not given in the reports.
So iron in the city water is not a problem, and we do not recommend an iron removal filter for a house on the network. Sulphates are close to the limit but do not exceed it. If the taste bothers you, reverse osmosis in the kitchen reduces sulphates for drinking and cooking water (with installation from €250). A water softener and iron removal do not remove sulphates, so we do not offer them for this purpose.
Your own source in and around Jelgava: sulphates and iron in wells
Jelgava's binding regulations No. 19-10 do not apply to decentralised water supply systems (point 2), so the owner is responsible for well or borehole water. In a 2022 University of Latvia study of 356 household wells, raised sulphate levels are mentioned as a feature that sets Zemgale wells apart from other regions. For a particular well, only a water test can show it.
Jelgava has the floodplains of the Lielupe and the Driksa, and on the outskirts urban and rural housing mix. In lower spots by the rivers, you also have to watch for spring water: if a well or borehole head can flood, floodwater gets into the source. Afterwards, we clean and disinfect a well, and for a borehole we check the head and the caisson.
- After flooding or if the colour changes: well cleaning with disinfection, from €150.
- Before buying a house: water testing, basic from €35, full with microbiology from €95.
- High sulphates: reverse osmosis for drinking water; if limescale is a nuisance, a water softener with installation from €600.
- Iron and manganese above the limit: iron removal, with installation from €600.
A new source, or the network in a street that does not have it yet
If there is no network in the street, the usual choice for a house without a source is a borehole in Jelgava (from €65/m) or, if the water is shallow and the ground sandy, a spike well (“spice” in Latvian, from €350). On the plain, a spike well does not work everywhere: on clayey ground the water flows in slowly, and then a borehole is safer. We assess the depth from neighbours' boreholes and data on the borehole map.
In Jelgava there is also a route to the network for a street that does not have it yet. Binding regulations No. 26-4 (in force since 17.03.2026) allow a group of residents to apply for a water main or sewer to be built in their street. The residents cover at least 30%, the municipality up to 70% of the costs up to the red line or the plot boundary, and the network is built by the city water company. Applications are submitted every year by 10 March. For example, in July 2026 topographic surveying was done on Vidus iela for a water main extension.
If your neighbours are considering such a project, compare the two routes before you drill a new borehole: connecting to mains water. After connection, your own source must not be connected to the network: point 15.9 of the regulations forbids combining local and public water supply and requires an air gap.
National requirements for a new borehole
A borehole up to 20 m deep, from which no more than 10 m³ is taken per day, needs no licence. If the borehole has to go deeper, the drilling company applies for the licence, not you. After drilling, the company prepares the passport with the depth, layers, test pumping result and laboratory tests, and the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre (LVĢMC) approves it within 10 working days.
Industrial, warehouse and farm sites around Jelgava that take 10 m³ per day or more also need a water use permit, and natural resources tax is paid above this volume: borehole for a business.
Sources: Jelgavas ūdens test reports 03/2026 and 09/2026 (ju.lv); Jelgava binding regulations No. 19-10, points 2 and 15.9 (likumi.lv/ta/id/308480); binding regulations No. 26-4 (likumi.lv/ta/id/367096); University of Latvia conference paper on 356 wells (conferences.lu.lv, 2022); Cabinet Regulation No. 547 on drinking water, Annex 1 (likumi.lv/ta/id/345861); the law “On Subterranean Depths”, point 2 of the first paragraph of Section 11 (likumi.lv/ta/id/40249); Cabinet Regulation No. 696 on subsoil licences, points 13 and 16 (likumi.lv/ta/id/236750); Cabinet Regulation No. 736 on water use permits, sub-point 2.1 (likumi.lv/ta/id/82574). Checked 03.11.2026.
Nearby places
Olaine, Iecava, Baloži and Riga. All places: where we work; all prices: prices.