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Sinking a Water Borehole in Portugal

Researched and written with AI tools from official sources. How we make our guides

When a borehole or well needs only a notice to APA and when it needs an authorisation, the 5 cv pump rule, the 100 metre spacing, and the fines.

The Portugal Brief 8 min read

Sinking a Water Borehole in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

  • You own or are buying rural land and want to drill a borehole (furo) or dig a well (poço).
  • You already have a borehole or well and are not sure it was ever declared.
  • You want to use groundwater for a garden, animals, a pool, or your home.

Not for you if: you only need a mains water contract for a home. Read Setting Up Water in Portugal instead.

Groundwater under your own land can be private water, but taking it out is a regulated use. Before you drill, you tell the Portuguese Environment Agency (Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente, APA). If your pump is 5 cv or less, a prior notice (comunicação prévia) is usually enough. Above that, you need an authorisation, which is treated as granted if APA does not decide within 45 days. Using groundwater with no title at all is a very serious offence. For an individual, the fine starts at €10,000.

Who decides, and which paper you need

APA's regional water departments (Administrações de Região Hidrográfica, ARH) issue water use titles. There are three kinds:

  • Authorisation (autorização). For private water, which includes most boreholes and wells on private land.
  • Licence (licença). For some uses of public water, such as drilling in the public water domain.
  • Concession (concessão). For big uses of public water, such as public supply, power generation, or irrigating more than 50 hectares.

A borehole or well on your own land, for your house, garden, or animals, is a use of private water. The starting rule is that it needs an authorisation. The exception most households fall into is the 5 cv rule.

The 5 cv rule

If your means of extraction do not exceed 5 cv, you only need to notify the authority. "Cv" stands for cavalo-vapor, metric horsepower. 5 cv is about 3.7 kW. The test is the rated power of the pump. It is not the depth of the hole, how much water you take, or the size of your land.

Two points catch people out:

  • APA can still require an authorisation. If it decides that your abstraction has a significant impact on the state of the water, the notice is not enough. APA's own form says that after a notice you should wait for its reply. If it finds a significant impact, you will need an authorisation.
  • A notice is still an obligation. Failing to send it is a light offence, with a fine of €200 to €2,000 for an individual acting negligently.

Some older advice also mentions a maximum depth. The current rules set no depth test. The old regime they came from was repealed on 1 June 2007.

What the law requires of the borehole itself

The law splits every groundwater abstraction into three stages: prospecting (pesquisa), building the borehole or well (execução), and using it (exploração). Prospecting and building must follow these rules:

  • The work must not pollute the groundwater, for example by letting surface water run down the hole, or by mixing poor water with good.
  • A borehole where water rises under its own pressure (artesian) must have a device to stop water being wasted.
  • If drilling finds no water, or a borehole has to be redone because of a technical error, the drilling company must restore the ground as APA directs.
  • Boreholes of different users drawing from the same groundwater body must be at least 100 metres apart. The ARH can set a different distance where there is a technical reason.

The 100 metre rule is why a neighbour's borehole can block yours. APA has a standard declaration for the case where you know of another borehole less than 100 metres away.

The completion report. Within 60 days of finishing the works, you must send APA a report showing the borehole was built properly. Keep a copy. It proves later that the work was done to standard.

Who can drill

Only firms licensed by APA can do groundwater prospecting and drilling. APA publishes the list of licensed firms on its website and updates it regularly. Check the firm against the list before you sign.

A licensed firm must:

  • display at the site its name, its licence (alvará) number, and the number of your water use title, where one is required.
  • keep a site book for complaints and incidents.
  • give you a technical report on the prospecting within 60 days of finishing it.

If the rig arrives with none of this on show, stop and check. A borehole drilled by an unlicensed firm is harder to regularise.

How to apply, step by step

  1. Check the pump power you plan to use, in cv or kW.
  2. Check the 100 metre rule against any neighbours' boreholes.
  3. Check for protection zones. See "Protection zones around public supply" below.
  4. Fill in APA's forms. For private groundwater, the same request form covers both a notice and an authorisation. Add the groundwater annex and the owner's declaration. If you are not the owner, use the users' declaration instead.
  5. Send it to the ARH for your area before any drilling starts.
  6. Wait for APA's answer if you sent a notice, in case it finds a significant impact.
  7. Hire a licensed firm and keep every document it gives you.
  8. Send the completion report within 60 days of finishing the works.

APA's forms are on its website, on the "Formulários" page under water.

How long it takes

For an authorisation, the request is treated as granted if APA does not notify a decision within 45 days. There are two exceptions:

  • water taken for human consumption, and
  • water taken in an area that is in severe or extreme drought when you apply.

In those cases, silence does not count as approval. You must wait for a decision. Once APA decides, it must send you the title within 15 days.

If you want to drink it

The law allows a private system to supply drinking water only where public supply cannot be reached. It must then meet the legal rules for drinking water. If a mains connection is available, you cannot use a borehole as your household's drinking supply instead.

Using borehole water for a garden, animals, a pool, or cleaning is a separate question from drinking it. Read Setting Up Utilities in Portugal for the mains route.

Protection zones around public supply

Boreholes and springs that feed public water supply can have protection zones (perímetros de proteção) around them. The government sets each one by order (portaria). The order lists which activities are banned or restricted in each zone. New private boreholes are among the activities that can be banned or restricted.

These orders are easy to miss. Before you buy rural land, ask the ARH in writing whether any part of it falls inside a protection zone. Also ask whether your groundwater body has any drilling restrictions. Both change with the aquifer and over time.

The fines

Water offences are environmental offences. The law sorts them into three levels. These are the fines for individuals:

LevelNegligenceIntent
Light€200 to €2,000€400 to €4,000
Serious€2,000 to €20,000€4,000 to €40,000
Very serious€10,000 to €100,000€20,000 to €200,000

Companies pay far more, up to €5,000,000 for a very serious offence committed with intent.

How the offences map to the levels:

  • No notice when one was required: light.
  • Using water with no title, or breaking the conditions of your title: very serious.
  • Handling, dumping, or storing harmful products next to a borehole or inside its immediate protection zone: very serious. Fuel drums and manure heaps are typical examples.

Negligence and attempt are both punishable. "I did not know" may lower the fine, but it is not a defence. Where dangerous substances seriously harm health, safety, or the environment, the very serious range doubles at both ends.

Old and undeclared boreholes

The current rules came into force on 1 June 2007. Users who had no title then had two years to come forward. Those who filed in time faced no fine for the untitled use until their title was issued, although the water charge was still due. That window closed in 2009. There is no amnesty today.

This is why an undeclared borehole found during a purchase is a real liability, not a formality. When the borehole was made, and whether it was ever declared, are worth establishing in writing before you buy.

A title can also bring the water resources charge (taxa de recursos hídricos). Ask the ARH whether your use is liable.

Checklist for buyers and owners

  • If you are buying rural property: ask for the title or the notice receipt, the date the borehole was made, the completion report, the pump's rated power, and a written answer on protection zones. Treat an undeclared borehole as a price issue. See Buying Property in Portugal for the rest of the checks, and The Caderneta Predial in Portugal for the tax record.
  • If you own a borehole nobody declared: using water with no title is a continuing very serious offence. Take advice, and contact the ARH to regularise it rather than waiting for an inspection.
  • If you are planning a new borehole: confirm the pump size, check the 100 metre rule, use a firm on APA's list, and keep every paper.
  • If you also need a septic tank: read Septic Tank Rules in Portugal, since the two often sit on the same plot.
  • If you keep bees or animals: rural holdings have other registers too. See Keeping Bees in Portugal.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules can vary by river basin and protection zone. Check your plot with APA's regional water department before you drill or buy.

Sources

This guide is written from official sources and, where relevant, organisations' own websites.

Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.

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