Plumtree Town (Wells and Boreholes) By-laws, 2025

These by-laws apply to all public and private wells and boreholes in the Plumtree Town area.

A council permit is required to dig a well or drill a borehole, and the application must carry written approval from the relevant Catchment Council and the Zimbabwe National Water Authority. Drilling companies may not work in the area without a council permit, and drilling is confined to set hours unless the council permits otherwise. Siting needs council approval: no well or borehole down-slope of an ablution facility, no well used without a proper lid, and only a steel wire rope to draw water.

Public wells and boreholes may not be upgraded without council approval or for personal benefit; each must have a water point committee registered with the council; the council handles routine maintenance and no one else may repair a public source; and a rehabilitated source may not be used until the council commissions it after water quality testing. Public water is for domestic use, with livestock watering, washing, bathing and irrigation restricted, and the council is responsible for the security of the source, with vandalism an offence.

As published, none of this is priced: the application, drilling permit and time extension fees, and every penalty — drilling or constructing a weir without approval, digging a well without approval, contractor drilling without a permit, drilling outside authorised hours, wrong siting, selling water from a community borehole, unauthorised repair, vandalism and obstruction — are all printed as US$0,00. The City of Masvingo's equivalent by-laws charge US$350 for a drilling permit and US$2 000 for drilling without approval.