How long will it take you to get to Yanchep or Two Rocks?

It’s one of our longest runs from Ellenbrook. We don’t promise a set time. Ring, and we’ll tell you honestly when we can be there. If that’s too long for you, we’ll say so.

Our Alkimos house is two years old and the drain has blocked. Is that the builder’s problem?

It might be. Sand, grout or offcuts left in the line, or a pipe without enough fall, are building issues. Building and Energy WA generally won’t consider a complaint more than six years after the work was completed, so raise it with your builder early. If it can’t wait, we’ll clear it and describe the cause on the invoice.

We’re on a rural lot in Carabooda. Can you help?

Yes, for blocked household drains, toilets and sinks. Tell us whether the property is on sewer or a septic system when you ring. We don’t do septic tank or ATU work, so if the tank or leach drains are the problem, you’ll need a septic specialist.

Our Quinns Rocks house used to be on septic. Does that matter for a blocked drain?

It can. When an older house is connected to sewer, its existing drain is joined to the newer connection. If a line keeps blocking, a drain camera shows whether the trouble is at that join, in the old pipe under the house, or somewhere else.

Who pays if the blockage is in the sewer main?

Blockages in your property plumbing are the owner’s responsibility. If it’s in Water Corporation’s main, normally outside the property, Water Corporation clears it. If we find it there, we call them in.

North coast and far north · Blocked drains, Clarkson to Two Rocks

Blocked drains in Clarkson, Butler, Quinns Rocks and Yanchep

Quinns Rocks was declared a beachside townsite in 1962, and for decades its homes relied on septic tanks and leach drains. The State started infill sewerage there in 2001 and finished it in 2014, opening the sewer to 908 lots. Most of the coast around it was bush or sheep country until recently: Butler had almost no residents at the 2001 Census, and Jindalee had none. Young estates block for different reasons than old suburbs, and inland there are still rural lots with no sewer at all.

The short answer

McDermott Plumbing clears blocked drains, toilets and sinks in Clarkson, Butler, Merriwa, Ridgewood, Mindarie, Quinns Rocks, Jindalee and Tamala Park, further north in Alkimos, Eglinton, Yanchep and Two Rocks, and on rural lots in Carabooda, Nowergup and Neerabup. Call (08) 6187 3999 or text 0406 882 648. This is a long run from our Ellenbrook base, and Yanchep and Two Rocks are among our longest, so we’ll tell you honestly when we can get there before you wait around. We clear with a drain machine or the hydro jetter and use a CCTV drain camera when a line keeps blocking. We don’t do septic tank or ATU work. If sewage is overflowing from Water Corporation’s main or onto the street, call Water Corporation on 13 13 75 as well.

Clarkson, Merriwa, Ridgewood and Mindarie

This stretch was the Clarkson family’s sheep run, a 13,000-acre pastoral lease taken up in 1888, and it stayed largely empty until the Mindarie marina was built and houses followed in the early 1990s. Merriwa’s first estate, Quinns Beach, went in during the late 1980s and early 1990s, and Ridgewood was split off from it in 1998. Clarkson kept growing through the 2000s, and its Somerly estate around the station, 1,800 lots on 162 hectares, was finished in 2008.

The first of these homes are now around 30 years old, and the trees planted with them have had time to reach a joint, so roots are starting to show up in older Clarkson and Merriwa streets. Clarkson also has a strip of two-storey apartment buildings along Ocean Keys Boulevard, where units share drain lines.

Quinns Rocks, Butler and Jindalee

Quinns Rocks started as beach shacks. From 1930 holidaymakers rented campsites on the beachfront from the Wanneroo Road Board, put down their own bores and mostly used pan toilets. The big land sale came in 1959, and many houses in Old Quinns date from the 1960s and ’70s. With infill sewerage finished in 2014, many of those homes have a house drain that is older than their sewer connection, and the join between the two is worth a look if a line keeps blocking.

Butler was named in 1979 but stayed bushland until Satterley started the Brighton estate in 2003. Jindalee’s Brighton Beachside lots followed later in the 2000s, and about three-quarters of Jindalee is still in its native state.

Alkimos, Eglinton, Yanchep and Two Rocks

Yanchep’s first houses were built in 1972 for Alan Bond’s Yanchep Sun City plan, and the Two Rocks marina followed in 1974. Most of the growth since has been to the south. Alkimos had 10,203 residents at the 2021 Census and wasn’t counted as a suburb in 2011, and Eglinton is being built out with the Amberton and Allara estates. A wastewater treatment plant was built in the Eglinton area to serve the catchment from Two Rocks south.

In a home only a few years old, a blocked drain can be a building defect: sand, grout or offcuts left in the line, or a pipe laid without enough fall. Building and Energy WA says a complaint about building work generally can’t be considered more than six years after the work was completed. So if your house is that young, raise it with your builder early. If it can’t wait, we’ll clear it and describe what we found on the invoice.

Carabooda, Nowergup and Neerabup: rural, often off sewer

Inland, Carabooda, Nowergup and Neerabup are rural localities of plant nurseries, small farms, wetlands and national park. Nowergup had 212 people in 81 dwellings at the 2011 Census. In the draft Carabooda District Structure Plan (October 2025), Water Corporation’s comment on the 960-hectare Carabooda site was that it isn’t currently serviced, and that major water and wastewater infrastructure would need to be planned.

So many rural lots out here are likely to be on a septic tank or an ATU rather than sewer. If you’re not sure about yours, Water Corporation can tell you. We clear blocked household drains, toilets and sinks on rural lots, but we don’t do septic tank or ATU work. If the problem is in the tank or the leach drains, you’ll need a septic specialist.

What blocks drains around Clarkson and Yanchep

Sand, grout and building rubble left in new lines in Butler, Alkimos, Eglinton and Yanchep estates.
Wet wipes and nappies. Water Corporation says wipes belong in the bin, even the ones labelled flushable.
Fat from family kitchens. Water Corporation says fats, oils and grease cause 30% of its wastewater blockages.
Beach sand in outdoor gullies and grated drains near the coast.
Roots starting to get into older lines in Clarkson, Merriwa, Old Quinns and the 1970s Yanchep and Two Rocks homes. Water Corporation says homes more than 15 years old are less likely to have PVC sewer pipe.

Blocked sink in Clarkson?

In a Clarkson, Butler or Alkimos kitchen, a slow sink is usually the trap: fat, food scraps and a dishwasher teed into the same waste. In an Ocean Keys apartment, check whether the neighbours have the same problem first. If only the sink is slow, try the safe checks in our blocked kitchen sink guide, and skip the caustic cleaners. If the toilet, shower or outdoor gully is slow too, the blockage is further down, so stop using water and call. On a rural lot with a septic system, a whole house draining slowly can be the tank or the leach drains rather than a blocked pipe, so tell us what you have.

How we clear it

We clear from the inspection shaft, gully or nearest sensible access point. Sand, rubble and grease get the hydro jetter, which flushes the line instead of just punching a hole through. A simple choke gets the drain machine. If a drain keeps blocking, the CCTV drain camera shows what’s in the pipe and where, which matters on a new home if you need to show your builder. Jetting won’t fix a broken or badly laid pipe, and we’ll tell you straight if that’s what we find.

If the blockage turns out to be in Water Corporation’s main, normally outside the property, it’s theirs to clear and we report it. Blockages within the property plumbing are the owner’s responsibility.

Suburbs we cover here: Clarkson, Butler, Merriwa, Ridgewood, Mindarie, Quinns Rocks, Jindalee, Tamala Park, Yanchep, Two Rocks, Alkimos, Eglinton, Carabooda, Nowergup and Neerabup.

Common questions

How long will it take you to get to Yanchep or Two Rocks?: It’s one of our longest runs from Ellenbrook. We don’t promise a set time. Ring, and we’ll tell you honestly when we can be there. If that’s too long for you, we’ll say so.
Our Alkimos house is two years old and the drain has blocked. Is that the builder’s problem?: It might be. Sand, grout or offcuts left in the line, or a pipe without enough fall, are building issues. Building and Energy WA generally won’t consider a complaint more than six years after the work was completed, so raise it with your builder early. If it can’t wait, we’ll clear it and describe the cause on the invoice.
We’re on a rural lot in Carabooda. Can you help?: Yes, for blocked household drains, toilets and sinks. Tell us whether the property is on sewer or a septic system when you ring. We don’t do septic tank or ATU work, so if the tank or leach drains are the problem, you’ll need a septic specialist.
Our Quinns Rocks house used to be on septic. Does that matter for a blocked drain?: It can. When an older house is connected to sewer, its existing drain is joined to the newer connection. If a line keeps blocking, a drain camera shows whether the trouble is at that join, in the old pipe under the house, or somewhere else.
Who pays if the blockage is in the sewer main?: Blockages in your property plumbing are the owner’s responsibility. If it’s in Water Corporation’s main, normally outside the property, Water Corporation clears it. If we find it there, we call them in.

Nearby

Blocked drain and plumber pages for the areas next to this one.

How we clear drains here.

Official sources

Last updated 16 October 2026. General information only. Every property is different, so call us to talk about yours.

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