Borehole and water filters in Ogre - a town between the Daugava and the Ogre river

The Ogre network: artesian boreholes and iron removal

Ogres komunikācijas takes water from artesian boreholes and treats it at an iron removal plant before supply; Ogresgals parish also has a separate drinking water iron removal plant. The agency gives the town's water hardness as 3.16 mmol/l based on a test by Vides audits (date not stated) and calls this the national average. It does not publish measured values for iron and manganese, only the limit values of 0.2 and 0.05 mg/l.

The February 2026 samples were taken at Indrānu iela 14, Celtnieku iela 37, Stirnu iela 6 and Slimnīcas iela 2, at Ogresgals primary school and at Daugavpils iela 3 in Ciemupe. The agency does not publish a list of streets without the network.

For a connected house this means: iron is already removed at the plant, so another iron filter in the house is usually not needed. At 3.16 mmol/l limescale is noticeable; if it damages the water heater and taps, the solution is water softener installation (from €600 with installation).

Riverbanks, hills and flood-prone spots

The place description characterises Ogre by the banks of the Daugava and the Ogre river, a hilly and forested terrain and the flooding of some areas. The linear town and the railway mean different access in the northern and southern parts.

For a water source this means several things. In a flood-prone spot we raise the top of the well or borehole above the possible water level, and we put the borehole head in an underground chamber only if flooding is completely ruled out, as building code LBN 222-15 “Water Supply Structures” requires. After spring floods a well needs cleaning and well disinfection. On a hilly site the rig needs a level pad, so we sometimes choose a borehole spot closer to the road, and then the pipe run to the house is longer.

Your own source in Ogre: which to choose and why

• A borehole in Ogre is the right choice for a permanent home with high water use or if the neighbours' wells and spike wells run dry in summer. Drilling from €65/m, a ~30 m deep borehole from €2,000, borehole equipment from €500.
• A spike well (“spice” in Latvian) from €350 works in a sandy spot with shallow water, often for a garden or a summer house.
• For a dug well by the river or on a slope, the most common jobs are well cleaning (from €150) and repairing the joints if the water turns cloudy after rain.
• If the house is higher than the source, water pump installation has to be planned with a pressure that also overcomes the height difference; submersible pump installation from €200.

Water from a private borehole is not the same as in the network, even if both come from artesian layers: your borehole may take water from a different aquifer and without treatment. Before choosing a filter you need water testing, basic from €35.

Connecting to the Ogre network and rules for your own source

1. Technical conditions The application for technical conditions is submitted to the agency Ogres komunikācijas; the conditions are free of charge and valid for two years.
2. Documents For a connection on your own land you need a water main plan or diagram and a notification to the Ogre municipal building authority (būvvalde). If the connection runs along the street, you need documents accepted by the building authority, and only a licensed construction company may build it.
3. Meter and contract The agency installs and seals the meter, and the contract is usually prepared within a month.

Ogre municipality binding regulations No. 24/2025 require your own well or borehole and the network to be separated, each metered, and the two not used at the same time (point 12), and an artesian borehole to be separated from the network by an air gap (point 43). There is no co-financing for a connection in Ogre: the former Ogre municipal council had not adopted such rules, and the Ogre municipal council, by binding regulations No. 9/2022, also revoked the earlier co-financing rules of Lielvārde and Ķegums.

For your own borehole deeper than 20 m, or with abstraction above 10 m³ per day, the drilling company applies for the licence. Businesses that take 10 m³ per day or more additionally need a water use permit and pay natural resources tax: natural resources tax for a borehole.

Nearby places

Ikšķile, Ķegums, Salaspils and Riga. All places: where we work; all prices: prices.