tree of us share same borehole . Problem is how to share the el. power legally ? can each of us use own cable to power the bore hole pump?
thanks for any answer 

regards

Edited October 29, 20241 yr by ibiza

42 minutes ago, ibiza said:

tree of us share same borehole . Problem is how to share the el. power legally ? can each of us use own cable to power the bore hole pump?
thanks for any answer 

regards

I think this depends on two things
1) Local by-laws
2) you will be creating an electrical connection between the three properties. What problems might arise from that?

In Johannesburg it would be illegal on the first point. You can't supply anything or anybody else. If there's a street pole with cameras on it, and you run a cable under your boundary wall to supply that pole then that is illegal! You are very naughty! If the municipality gets wind of it they will sever the connection and give you a talking to.

Easiest is to work out the cost of pumping for the month, the person who's property the borehole is on pays the municipal power.

Divide the usage (pump) by three, and the other two pay there share to the one who pays the municipality bill.

If you want to get technical, you could install a meter for the pump, and mark on a spreadsheet the number of units each household uses while pumping.

Pretty sure it's illegal to sell electricity over a neighbour's fence. But instead of trying to charge per kWh, why not charge per kilolitre of water to run a pipe to a neighbour's storage tank? Or is that also dodgy?

it is not about selling the power.  all of us share the bore hole. we just  want to run the pump and fill the tanks with the water.

12 hours ago, ibiza said:

it is not about selling the power.  all of us share the bore hole. we just  want to run the pump and fill the tanks with the water.

Just give a bottle of whiskey once a year to the neighbor paying for the pump electricity. Problem solved.

Don't run an electrical circuit outside of the boundaries of the ERF it's supplied from, it's in violation of the electrical regs and also in violation of the terms and conditions of the Eskom supply. Theres good safety resaons not to do this which without getting too technical you can cause a shock hazard by connecting adjacent equipotential earthing zones together or even having them too close to each other. It all depends what the earthing arrangements are at the properties where the circuits originate but the answer in short is no, do not run more than one circuit from different properties to supply the pump.

 

As already mentioned you could meter the power the pump is using and just divide the cost amicably or you could pump the water into a holding tank then run 3 water pipes from there to supply the 3 properties and meter the volume of water each property uses and divide the bill up that way.

 

Just incidentally I'd suggest you come up with an arrangement where everyone pays double what the power cost is every month and save the excess payments in an account so when the pump goes tits-up a year or two from now there's already money available towards repairs or replacing.

Edited October 30, 20241 yr by Marv

@ibiza You stated that "tree of us share same borehole"

Is the borehole shared between multiple properties or multiple dwellings on one property and each of the dwellings has their own power meter?

 

it is shared between multiple properties

Since the borehole is shared between multiple properties I would suggest that each of the properties install this type of socket and plug  shown in the pictures below and run a common cable to the borehole.

 

Kind Regards

GerhardK83

Put in a wireless switch with the correct amperage on the line to the pump and give everyone access via their smartphone.

Qwikswitch.co.za have a good solution re wifi switches and wifi extenders and remote bridges.

 

Edited October 31, 20241 yr by Thunderdolt
add qwikswitch

8 hours ago, ibiza said:

it is shared between multiple properties

I see only one way to do this - and that's if you all trust each other. It will take some reading of meters.

This is because if each property has a connection to the pump then you are interconnecting the three properties, and I don't believe that's a safe thing to do, nor allowable in terms of electrical regulations.

I also assume the borehole is located on one of the properties.

So, there must be three water pipes feeding the three properties. You put a meter on each of those so that you can see who draws how much.

Then whoever's property the borehole is on runs a connection to the pump, and puts a meter just on that line.

You agree a unit cost for electricity along the line powering the pump. This should be padded for two reasons
1) There's almost certainly a stepped tariff involved, and the person supplying the feed is going to get pushed up that ladder more quickly than they would have.
2) To build a surplus in for future maintenance (as already proposed)

Now when you install all of this, before that pump does a single revolution, read all the meters.

Then read them monthly. Pro-rata the electricity usage according to the water usage.

The two "client" property owners pay the third owner the agreed per kWh charge, and trust him to put a fair amount aside in an interest bearing account. He will have a good idea of how much was added to his electricity bill because the meters are being read. 

This all takes some trust, and there may be problems if one of you sells.

Unless you can come up with a system with three pumps, one per property, with an electrical feed from each property to it's pump, and no shared electrical connections (not even earth) between those pumps. Then each just pays their bill and there's no need for extra meters. But two of you will be contravening any regulations (national or local) that prevent one property supplying power to another. In this scenario each property must make their own provision for maintenance.

In many ways the three pumps solution is cleaner.

Make sure that you get access to this bore hole put into your property deeds because one day you will either sell it or somebody will inherit it.

 

I asked ESKOM Yesterday are we allowed to run the wires from my Neighbors DB's to the pump through my property and the answer was positive, yes it it LEGAL to run your wire through  other's property with his written permit for the electrician to dig the trench for the wires .
i thank to all contributors who helped me with this issue.

On 2024/10/30 at 7:55 AM, HendrikBigChief said:

Just give a bottle of whiskey once a year to the neighbor paying for the pump electricity. Problem solved.

Bottle Jack Daniels will do

2 hours ago, Saluki said:

Bottle Jack Daniels will do

With the price of electricity these days, a single malt is more appropriate.

On 2024/11/01 at 12:22 PM, Bobster. said:

With the price of electricity these days, a single malt is more appropriate.

_{Price of electricity}

4.34 pre unit