A warehouse or plant needs a process water borehole with a calculated yield, while an individual house can do with a spike well or a shallower borehole. For a business, the most important figure is daily consumption, because it decides whether you need a permit and whether natural resources tax is payable. We drill and equip boreholes and install spike wells.
Šķirotava: railway junctions, warehouses and a few residential streets
Šķirotava is a south-eastern industrial and logistics neighbourhood around large railway junctions. It has railway infrastructure, warehouses, manufacturing, wholesale trade and some individual housing. Access is defined by Lubānas iela, Krustpils iela, the railway and the Southern Bridge links.
In the 2025 contract performance report of Rīgas ūdens (Riga's water utility), Šķirotava is listed among the neighbourhoods where services are unavailable or only partly available in certain areas or streets, without naming the streets. The same report says that water main networks were renewed in Šķirotava in 2025. To find out whether your property has a connection, use the Rīgas ūdens “Service availability” form.
Source: Rīgas ūdens contract performance report for 2025, approved 23.03.2026 (rigasudens.lv). Checked 03.11.2026.
Daily consumption decides the paperwork and the tax
| Abstraction per day | What has to be arranged |
|---|---|
| Up to 10 m³ and a borehole up to 20 m | No VVD licence needed; borehole passport after drilling |
| Up to 10 m³, borehole deeper than 20 m | The drilling company applies for a licence before drilling (€35.57); borehole passport |
| 10 m³ or more | Also a water use permit from the State Environmental Service (VVD) (€78.26) |
| Above 10 m³ | Natural resources tax on the volume above 10 m³ per day |
| Above 100 m³ | Also a groundwater deposit passport |
The natural resources tax rate for groundwater used for water supply is €0.02, €0.041 or €0.05 per m³, depending on the water's value class. The declaration is submitted to the State Revenue Service (VID) every quarter by the 20th of the following month, but if the annual tax does not exceed €142.29, once a year by 20 January.
By 1 March, the permit holder also submits the statistical report “Nr. 2 - Ūdens” for the previous year on the website of the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre (LVĢMC). That is why it pays to calculate consumption honestly at the design stage: washing, processes, sanitary facilities and irrigation together.
Sources: the Natural Resources Tax Law, Sections 3, 19 and 27 and Annex 2 (likumi.lv/ta/id/124707); Cabinet Regulation No. 736 on water use permits, sub-point 2.1 (likumi.lv/ta/id/82574); Cabinet Regulation No. 469, point 2 (likumi.lv/ta/id/232277); Cabinet Regulation No. 271 on the report “Nr. 2 - Ūdens” (likumi.lv/ta/id/291027); Cabinet Regulation No. 696 on subsoil licences, point 11 (likumi.lv/ta/id/236750); the law “On Subterranean Depths”, point 2 of the first part of Section 11 (likumi.lv/ta/id/40249); Cabinet Regulation No. 1055, sub-point 2.13 (likumi.lv/ta/id/150411). Checked 03.11.2026.
A borehole on a working site
In Šķirotava, working arrangements are shaped by the railway, freight traffic and the industrial setting. The drilling rig needs a spot where it can stand for several days, access for delivering pipes, and space for drilling fluid and excavated soil. Before the work we agree the following with the person responsible for the site:
- the underground utilities plan, because on an industrial site there are often cables and pipes under the asphalt;
- working hours and an area where lorries and forklifts do not drive;
- the site's safety instructions and passes, if the area is guarded;
- a place for the borehole head and pump controls where traffic will not damage them, for example in a caisson or a technical building.
The borehole's depth and design are determined by the aquifers and the required yield, which is checked by test pumping after drilling. We do not guarantee a quantity in advance. More on the design and protection zones: borehole for a business.
Water quality for technical needs
For process water, the requirements are set by the equipment, not by the drinking water regulations. For a washing unit or a boiler, hardness and iron often matter more than microbiology. After the first test we decide whether you need iron removal, softening or just a mechanical filter. If the same water is also used for drinking in the sanitary facilities, a microbiology test is needed too: water testing.
For homes in Šķirotava
In the individual housing, a family home connected to the city network usually has its own source only for the garden, with a pipe that is not connected to the house plumbing. If there is no connection, a spike well works in sandy soil if the water is within the pump's reach; otherwise we choose a borehole. A home spike well needs no VVD licence if it is no deeper than 20 m and abstraction does not exceed 10 m³ per day.
Source: Riga City Council binding regulations No. 17, point 63.6 (likumi.lv/ta/id/296134). Checked 03.11.2026.
Work and prices in Šķirotava
- Borehole in Šķirotava: a private house borehole from €65/m, ~30 m from €2,000; for a business borehole, an estimate based on the design.
- Borehole equipment: from €500, pump extra.
- Borehole pump replacement: installation from €200.
- Spike well in Šķirotava: from €350.
- Water treatment: iron removal or softening from €600 at private house scale.
State fees and taxes are not our prices. There is no call-out fee in Riga. All prices: prices.