Borehole and water tank installation costs

Naivasha sits next to a lake, which doesn't mean every plot has reliable piped water — supply varies a lot by area, and a lot of households end up investing in a storage tank, a borehole, or both. The two are priced very differently.

Water storage tanks

Plastic tanks are priced mainly by capacity, with the stand or platform as a separate cost — a taller stand for better household pressure costs more in materials and labour than a low-set tank. Fittings and pipework connecting the tank to the house are usually quoted separately from the tank itself.

Borehole drilling

Drilling cost depends heavily on depth, which depends on geology at that specific plot — two boreholes a few plots apart can need very different depths. The drilling figure is a deposit on the full project, not the total: casing, a pump, and the electrical connection to run it all add substantially on top.

What's commonly left out of a first quote

• The pump and its electrical connection — a borehole without a working pump is just a hole
• Water testing or treatment, if the water needs it before it's usable for drinking or washing
• Plumbing from the borehole or tank into the house itself
• Ongoing pump maintenance and eventual replacement — not a one-off cost

Ask for a written breakdown separating drilling, casing, the pump, electrical work, and plumbing — a single lump figure for "borehole installation" almost always means one of these has been underestimated or left out entirely.