In the 2025 report of Rīgas ūdens (Riga's water utility), Suži is among the small neighbourhoods with fewer than 1,000 residents where water services are unavailable or only partly available, and we found no expansion project for Suži on the Rīgas ūdens project pages. So we plan your own source here as a long-term solution: one that gives water all year, is protected from surface water and, together with the pump and pipe, copes with winter.
Which source suits a house lived in all year round
| Source | When it works in Suži | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Dug well (concrete-ring well) | If groundwater is close to the surface and lower consumption is enough | The upper layer is most affected by rain and meltwater; the well needs cleaning and the water testing |
| Spike well | Sandy soil, water level no deeper than 7–8 m from the pump | Cheap (from €350), but also draws on the upper layer; the filter can clog |
| Borehole | For a house lived in all year, higher consumption, or if the upper water is unsuitable | More expensive (from €65/m), but the aquifer is covered from above by denser sediments |
We cannot promise in advance at what depth the water is on your particular plot. The best guide is the neighbours' wells and boreholes: how deep they are, whether they run dry in summer and what their water tests show. While drilling we see the layers and then decide where to put the filter. Comparisons: borehole or dug well and dug well or spike well.
Sources: Rīgas ūdens contract performance report for 2025 (approved 23.03.2026); the Rīgas ūdens project pages and site search (rigasudens.lv); no expansion project for Suži found. Checked 03.11.2026.
Wet ground by the lake: the source must be watertight
Ķīšezers, the forests and lower-lying spots in Suži make for a wet environment, and in spring water can stand where it is dry in summer. That does not mean every plot is wet, but it sets two requirements for the source: location and watertightness.
- Location: the highest part of the plot, where rainwater from the roof and the yard does not flow, and as far as possible from the waste water system. The national regulations give no distance figure, so we go by the terrain.
- Borehole: the building code requires the borehole structure to be fully watertight, with water entering only through the filter. That is why we fit a seal around the casing pipe at the surface and a watertight borehole head.
- Dug well: the top ring above ground, sealed upper joints, a clay layer sloping away from the well and a tight-fitting lid.
- Spike well: joints that do not suck in air, and a spot where water does not collect around the pipe.
Source: building code LBN 222-15 “Water Supply Structures” (Cabinet Regulation No. 326 of 30.06.2015), point 78 (likumi.lv/ta/id/274989); the Protection Zone Law, the second part of Section 9 (likumi.lv/ta/id/42348). Checked 03.11.2026.
From the source to the tap: a system that copes with winter
In a house by the forest and the lake, what most often freezes in winter is not the source itself but the pipe next to it, the inlet into the house or a pump in an unheated room. Around Riga, the pipe from the source to the house is usually laid at a depth of about 1.2–1.8 m, depending on the soil. That is not a figure from a standard, but common practice.
- For a borehole, the pipe leaves the borehole through a pitless adapter or a caisson below the frost depth: borehole caisson.
- The pump and the pressure tank stand in a warm utility room. Submersible pump installation costs from €200, pump extra: water pumps.
- If the source gives little water, the pump needs dry-running protection.
- If you do not live in the house in winter, the system is drained: winterising.
We build the whole system from the source to the taps together, so that the pump, pipes and filters suit each other: water supply system installation for a private house.
Paperwork for a new source
A dug well or a borehole up to 20 m deep from which up to 10 m³ is taken per day needs no licence from the State Environmental Service (VVD). A family home usually does not reach that volume. For a borehole deeper than 20 m, the drilling company applies for the licence (state fee €35.57), prepares the borehole passport after the work, and the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre (LVĢMC) approves it for €115.34. A well and a borehole are first-group engineering structures: ask the municipal building authority (būvvalde) about an explanatory memorandum (paskaidrojuma raksts) before the work, because VVD's diagrams describe this step differently.
Sources: 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); Cabinet Regulation No. 696 on subsoil licences, point 13 (likumi.lv/ta/id/236750); Cabinet Regulation No. 752, point 2.1 of the annex (likumi.lv/ta/id/259619); Cabinet Regulation No. 253 (engineering structures), sub-point 1 of point 6.² (likumi.lv/ta/id/291197). Checked 03.11.2026.
Water quality by the lake and the forest
With your own source, you are responsible for the water yourself. After a new borehole or well, after flooding and once a year, we recommend the full test with microbiology (from €95). If the result shows iron or manganese above the values in Cabinet Regulation No. 547 on drinking water (200 µg/l and 50 µg/l), an iron removal unit with installation costs from €600. We take the sample and deliver it to an accredited laboratory: water testing.
Access and prices
The main access to Suži is via Jaunciema gatve and local roads. At houses on the forest edge the drilling rig needs a firm road, so in your request describe the access road and whether it stays passable after rain. Suži is part of Riga, so there is no call-out fee: prices.