Donvale
Blocked, burst or leaking in Donvale?
Blocked drains, burst pipes and leaks in Donvale, from the orchard-era pines to the Mullum Mullum Creek, passed to a licensed plumber day and night.
Plumbing in Donvale
Pressure pumps, septic tanks and acre lots
Yarra Valley Water has finished new sewerage for a large part of Donvale near the Mullum Mullum Creek, serviced by a hybrid system of gravity and pressure sewerage. A home there may drain to a pressure unit with its own pump, to a gravity connection, or still to a septic tank, and which one it is decides the whole job, so that is confirmed before a backup is diagnosed.
The west of the suburb has ordinary house lots, but the part to the east has blocks of about one acre, like Park Orchards next door. A sewer or septic line there can run a long way from house to street, so finding and filming it takes longer, and machine access across the yard is planned in advance.
Fruit growing ran the district until the middle of the last century. Suburbs came with the motor car and orchard subdivision from the 1950s, so most houses are postwar, with earthenware or early PVC drains and copper water pipe.
Jobs in Donvale
Long lines, pumps and pine roots
Blocked drains
Long sewer and septic lines on the eastern acre lots, found and filmed first.
Pipe relining
A lining where roots from mature pine trees crowd a line in the heritage precinct.
CCTV drain inspection
Earthenware or early PVC in the postwar houses, settled with a camera.
What it costs: hot water replacement cost, gutter replacement cost, toilet installation cost
Donvale questions
Pine precincts, storm low points and Manningham drains
Can pine roots in the heritage precinct be dug out of a drain?
Not freely. In one heritage precinct the forest character comes from mature pine trees planted in the orchard era, on private land and in the road reserve. Their roots are likely to crowd sewer, stormwater and water lines, and the precinct may limit tree removal, so relining or careful hand digging is the likely approach.
Why does water pool around the preschool streets in big storms?
A council investigation found one preschool sits at a localised low point in the street network, where the old drainage could not cope in major storms, and Manningham added drains and pits there. Nearby properties still collect overland flow in a big storm, so the street system is checked before a private stormwater drain is blamed.
Are older stormwater lines still running to open drains?
Some may be. Manningham has been adding underground drains and kerb along streets that had none, so an older property line may still discharge to an open table drain. The legal point of discharge is confirmed before new downpipes are tied in.
