The regulations require a groundwater user who no longer uses a borehole to ensure that it is mothballed or decommissioned. We decommission boreholes in Riga and the Riga region and prepare the borehole decommissioning certificate. In your request, give the borehole depth if you know it, and whether there is still a pump in it.
Why an unused borehole has to be plugged
A borehole is a hole through all the layers that protect groundwater. While a borehole is in use, its head is sealed and the pump constantly renews the water. An abandoned borehole with a rusted pipe or an open top becomes a path for rainwater, fertiliser and wastewater straight to the aquifer that your neighbours also take water from.
That is why a borehole is decommissioned if you will no longer use it. Typical reasons: the house has been connected to mains water, a new borehole has been installed, the old one gives sand or has a stuck pump, or a building is planned on its spot. On connecting to the water main: connecting to mains water.
Cabinet Regulation No. 696 of 06.09.2011 on subsoil licences, "Procedures for Issuing Subsoil Use Licences and Permits for the Extraction of Commonly Occurring Mineral Resources, and Procedures for Leasing Land of a Public Person for Subsoil Use", point 21. If a groundwater user stops using a water abstraction borehole, it ensures that the borehole is mothballed or decommissioned, and a certificate is drawn up for the decommissioning (Annex 9). LBN 222-15, point 62: unused and substandard boreholes are decommissioned by plugging them. Sources: likumi.lv, checked 03.11.2026.
How borehole decommissioning is done
- Borehole data We look at the borehole passport, if there is one: depth, diameter, pipe material and aquifers. Without a passport we measure the depth and diameter on site.
- Removing the equipment We lift out the pump, delivery pipe, cable and rope. If something is stuck in the borehole, we remove it first, because the plugging material has to reach the bottom.
- Cleaning and measuring We flush out the silt and collapsed sand and measure the depth again, to know how much material is needed.
- Filling from the bottom We fill the borehole from the bottom up with bentonite clay or cement grout, through a pipe that reaches the bottom. That way the material does not separate and no voids remain. Where the borehole crosses different aquifers, they are separated by a watertight layer.
- Top end We cut the top of the pipe below ground level, seal it and backfill with soil, so that nothing is left on the surface where water could run in.
- Certificate We prepare the borehole decommissioning certificate with the materials and intervals, signed by the client and the contractor.
The borehole decommissioning certificate and other documents
The official document is the “Certificate of Borehole Decommissioning” under Annex 9 of Cabinet Regulation No. 696, not some free-form plugging certificate. It records the borehole data, the decommissioning method and the materials used. Attached to the certificate are a copy of the plugging order, a cross-section showing the filling materials and intervals, a water testing report and a copy of the licence. A copy of the certificate is sent to the State Geological Fund at the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre (LVĢMC).
- Licence: borehole decommissioning is a type of subsoil use, and the licence is applied for at the State Environmental Service (VVD) by the company that will decommission the borehole. Whether a licence is also needed for a shallow private borehole up to 20 m is not stated clearly in the regulations, so we clarify it with VVD before the work.
- Prior approval from LVĢMC is needed only if the borehole is part of a water intake or is deeper than 300 m. This usually does not apply to a private house borehole.
- Municipal building authority (būvvalde): for demolishing a first-group engineering structure, the regulations require a construction notification. Whether plugging a borehole counts as demolition is not stated directly in the regulations, so we suggest asking your building authority.
Keep the certificate together with the borehole passport: it is useful when selling the property and when connecting to the water main. On the passport and borehole documents: borehole registration.
Cabinet Regulation No. 696, point 21, sub-points 23.1 and 23.5 and Annex 9; the law “On Subterranean Depths”, Section 7, point 5 and Section 9(1), point 4; VVD frequently asked questions (question 10); Cabinet Regulation No. 253 of 09.05.2017, point 6.¹, sub-point 2. Sources: likumi.lv, vvd.gov.lv, checked 03.11.2026.
Mothballing or decommissioning
If you might need the borehole later, for example for watering or as a reserve, it can be mothballed: the equipment removed, the head tightly sealed and protected from water and damage. Mothballing suits only a sound borehole with a good pipe. If the pipe has rusted through, the filter is torn or the borehole has stood open for years, it is safer to decommission it.
How much borehole decommissioning costs
We name the decommissioning price once we know the borehole data, because every borehole is different. The price depends on:
- the borehole depth and diameter, as they determine how much plugging material is needed;
- what has to be removed from the borehole: the pump, cable, stuck pipes or other obstacles, and whether they can be lifted out in the usual way;
- the borehole's condition and design: the pipe material, the filter and whether several aquifers have to be separated;
- the plugging material (bentonite clay or cement grout) and access for machinery;
- the documents after the work: the borehole decommissioning certificate with attachments and, if needed, a licence.
Fill in the form with the borehole depth, your address and whether there is a pump in the borehole. A specialist assesses the situation and names the price before the work. If you plan a new borehole on the old spot, we combine both jobs: borehole drilling.