Wallan
Blocked, burst or leaking in Wallan?
Blocked drains, burst pipes and leaks in Wallan, from Mittagong Creek to the estates by the freeway, passed to a licensed plumber day and night.
Plumbing in Wallan
Volcanic ground, an elm avenue and newer estates
The town sits on a volcanically affected landscape which has quarry materials rather than deep soil, unlike the country further north at Kilmore. A trench for a new drain or sewer connection is likely to meet rock, so digging is slower and relining or boring is worth pricing where it fits.
Commuter growth began in the early seventies and the population doubled through the eighties. Houses from those years likely have early PVC or earthenware drains with copper water pipe, so cracked clay joints and roots are the common failures in the older streets.
Newer estates are another matter. Homes in the 186 hectare Wallara Waters development beside the freeway have recent PVC drains, where a blockage is more often builder's debris or a dropped joint than roots.
Jobs in Wallan
Rock, roots and recent PVC
Pipe relining
A lining where rock under shallow soil would make a new trench slow and costly.
Blocked drains
Elm roots in older connections, and builder's debris in the newer estate drains.
CCTV drain inspection
A camera to tell an early clay joint from a recent plastic one before a repair is chosen.
What it costs: hot water replacement cost, gutter replacement cost, toilet installation cost
Wallan questions
Elm roots, sewer upgrades and heritage ground
Can roots from the old elms block my sewer?
They can. The town's honour avenue, planted in the twenties, includes forty-eight purple leaved Dutch Elms, and mature elm roots travel into nearby sewer and stormwater connections. As protected heritage trees they limit digging, so relining is often the better repair.
Who fixes the sewer main near the creek works?
Yarra Valley Water. Its upgrade includes a new permanent sewer pump station near Mittagong Creek and a pipeline into town, and its mains are its own responsibility. A private drain job near the works route may need the corporation's consent before digging.
Does digging near the old station need a permit?
Yes. The station complex is listed on the Victorian Heritage Inventory and covered by a Mitchell heritage overlay, so breaking ground there for a drain or water connection needs Heritage Victoria consent first.
Has the council changed stormwater connections on rebuilt roads?
On one it has. Mitchell Shire's reconstruction of a town road included new kerb and channel and upgraded underground drainage. A property along it may now connect to a new pit, so the point of discharge is confirmed with council before an old line is relaid.
