Altona
Blocked, burst or leaking in Altona?
Blocked drains, burst pipes and leaks in Altona, from the beach to the basalt plains, passed to a licensed plumber day and night.
Plumbing in Altona
Sand ridges, shacks and a late sewer
Altona's beach streets stand on raised beaches and sand ridges, and the coastal part of the suburb sits on alluvial flats and recent estuarine deposits. Soft ground settles unevenly under old clay drains and loose sand washes into a cracked joint, so a camera usually goes down before anyone digs.
Many early houses were technically only holiday shacks, later lived in all year, and they waited a long time before sewerage connections were completed. A sewer branch laid after the house can run a different way from the one you would guess, so the connection is found before the drain is opened.
Hobsons Bay records a history of floods in the Seaholme and Altona areas, when short, intense storms overload the street drains. A low property outlet backs up when the street drain surcharges, however clear the house drain is.
Jobs in Altona
Sandy ground and later sewers
Blocked drains
Old clay drains in sand and estuary ground, and lines shared between townhouses.
CCTV drain inspection
A camera to find where a sewer branch laid after the house actually runs.
Gutters and downpipes
Leaking joints and rusted downpipes near the bay, repaired or replaced.
What it costs: hot water replacement cost, gutter replacement cost, toilet installation cost
Altona questions
Inspection shafts, discharge reports and shared sites
Is the blockage mine or Greater Western Water's?
Greater Western Water says it will only service blockages within its own network. It tells owners to check the overflow relief gully and the inspection shaft to work out which side of the line the blockage is on.
How long does a legal point of discharge take?
Hobsons Bay City Council issues the report on application and a fee, and says to allow up to 10 working days. The owner is responsible for the drain up to the council pipe, so a new stormwater line waits on that report.
Who owns the drain on a townhouse site?
Around three in ten occupied private dwellings in Altona are townhouses, row or semi-detached houses, and those sites often share one sewer branch. Who shares the pipe is settled before the job is priced.
Does heritage control affect downpipes near the foreshore?
It can. In the Altona and Laverton foreshore heritage precinct, a change to visible roof plumbing or downpipes is checked with council first, in case a planning permit is needed.
