Blocked drains in Kalamunda, High Wycombe, Greenmount and Mundaring

Sewer or septic? Check your address first

Those planning documents describe areas, not individual lots, and some streets may have been connected since they were written. Water Corporation’s property search shows whether an address is connected to sewer or has access to it, and the City of Kalamunda points owners to Water Corporation’s My Water service for the same answer. Where there’s no sewer, the council (the City of Kalamunda, the Shire of Mundaring or, for Gidgegannup, the City of Swan) has to approve an on-site system, such as a conventional set of two septic tanks and two leach drains, or an aerobic treatment unit.

It changes where we look. On sewer, the house drain runs to a junction, and anything past it in the main is Water Corporation’s to clear. On a septic property, a whole house that drains slowly may be a full tank or a tired leach drain rather than a blocked pipe. We clear blocked pipes in the house either way, but we don’t do septic tank or ATU work. The Shire of Mundaring says only licensed liquid waste contractors can pump out these systems, so if the tank is the problem, that’s who you need.

High Wycombe and Maida Vale: the sewered foothills

High Wycombe sits at the foot of the scarp, directly east of Perth Airport. The name was first used by a subdivider in 1958 and the suburb was declared in 1978, after being cut out of Maida Vale. At the 2021 Census it had 12,198 people and 96.2% of its homes were separate houses, with newer estates such as Jacaranda Springs north of Kalamunda Road. Water Corporation is also laying 830 metres of large wastewater pipe in High Wycombe, using trenchless methods, to cope with growth in the City of Kalamunda. Work started in March 2026 and is due to finish late in 2026.

Maida Vale is older. Its first settler arrived in 1873 and planted an orchard, the suburb was named in 1910, and it still keeps patches of bushland and many old established trees, enough to host flocks of Carnaby’s black cockatoos. On a sewered Maida Vale block, roots are a common reason a drain keeps blocking: Water Corporation says homes more than 15 years old are less likely to have PVC sewer pipe, and that a hairline crack is all a root needs.

Kalamunda and Gooseberry Hill: up on the scarp

Kalamunda sits about 300 metres above sea level among jarrah forest, with deep clay soils in the valleys that suit orchards. North of the town, the ground drops away sharply from Gooseberry Hill to the Helena Valley. Rock close to the surface is the reason the 2010 strategy gave for sewer reaching the town centre but not most of the residential streets around it.

For a blocked drain, it means two different jobs in the same postcode. Near the town centre, the house drain usually runs to the sewer, often under big trees. On the slopes, it’s usually a downhill run to a septic tank and leach drains, and the access can be steep. Tell us about steps, side gates and where we can park when you book.

Greenmount, Boya, Helena Valley, Darlington and Glen Forrest

The Shire of Mundaring’s strategy recommends lobbying for sewer to be extended to the unsewered residential areas of Greenmount, Helena Valley and Boya, so on the lower slopes some streets have sewer and some don’t. Helena Valley’s soils run from sand to loam and clay, and the valley mixes rural houses with six estates. Higher up in Darlington and Glen Forrest, where the strategy has only the Mundaring town centre sewered, homes are generally on on-site systems.

Older hills houses with additions, large gardens and established trees are common through here. On a sewered lot, roots are the usual repeat offender. On a septic lot, the Shire of Mundaring warns against planting trees known for invasive roots, naming figs, ficus and willows, because they do a lot of damage to septic systems.

Mundaring town to Gidgegannup

Mundaring town has its own wastewater treatment plant rather than a pipe down to the city. When the State opened it in 1996, it wasn’t attached to Perth’s main sewerage system. It first served the town’s business district, two schools and an aged persons’ hospital, with the treated effluent to be used on the town’s ovals, and Mundaring was picked partly because septic tanks wouldn’t cope with growing demand there.

Past the town centre, Mahogany Creek, Parkerville, Stoneville and Hovea are mostly bush and lifestyle lots outside the sewer, on on-site systems. Gidgegannup, about 40 km north-east of Perth on Toodyay Road and in the City of Swan, is low-density enough that a lot of native bush remains, and the City of Swan requires on-site effluent disposal wherever sewer isn’t available. The Shire of Mundaring’s strategy says most of the Shire is bushfire prone, and houses in Parkerville and Stoneville were lost in the January 2014 bushfire. On a big hills lot, the drain from the house can run a long way, so tell us where the tank, the inspection openings and the gullies are if you know.

What blocks drains around Kalamunda and Mundaring

• Tree roots in older house drains under gums, fruit trees and big garden trees. Water Corporation says homes more than 15 years old are less likely to have PVC sewer pipe.
• Fat and food scraps. Water Corporation says fats, oils and grease hardening in pipes cause 30% of its wastewater blockages, and the Shire of Mundaring tells septic owners to keep large amounts of fat and oil out of the system.
• Wet wipes. Water Corporation says even wipes labelled flushable don’t break down like toilet paper, and the Shire of Mundaring lists them among the things to keep out of a septic system.
• Leaves and soil washed into outdoor gullies and stormwater pits on sloping, tree-covered blocks.
• Sand, grout and offcuts left in new lines in the High Wycombe and Maida Vale estates.
• On septic properties, a tank that’s overdue for a pump-out or a leach drain that has stopped taking water. It looks like a blocked drain, but it’s a job for a septic contractor.

Blocked sink in Kalamunda?

In a hills kitchen on septic, from Gooseberry Hill to Glen Forrest, the sink is where most of the household’s fat goes down, and the Shire of Mundaring lists large amounts of fats and oils among the things to keep out of a septic system. Scrape plates into the bin and wipe greasy pans before washing. In a High Wycombe estate home on sewer, a slow sink is more often the trap and the short waste under the bench, packed with fat and food scraps, sometimes with the dishwasher draining into it. At a café or shop in the Kalamunda town centre, it’s usually grease. We clear the sink and the line, but pumping out a grease trap is a licensed liquid waste contractor’s job. Start with the safe checks in our blocked kitchen sink guide and leave the caustic cleaner on the shelf. If every fixture in a septic house is slow, it may be the tank, so tell us when you ring.

How we clear it

We clear from the inspection opening, gully or nearest sensible access point. A simple choke gets the drain machine. Roots, fat and wipes get the hydro jetter, which scours the pipe instead of just poking a hole through it. If a line keeps blocking, the CCTV drain camera shows what’s in it and roughly where, and on a septic property that helps tell a blocked pipe from a tank or leach drain problem. Jetting won’t mend a cracked or broken pipe, and if that’s what we see, we’ll tell you.

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: Kalamunda, Gooseberry Hill, Maida Vale, High Wycombe, Greenmount, Boya, Helena Valley, Darlington, Glen Forrest, Mundaring, Mahogany Creek, Parkerville, Stoneville, Hovea and Gidgegannup.

Common questions

How do I know if my hills property is on sewer or septic?

Search the address on Water Corporation’s property search, or check your My Water account. If there’s no sewer, the property will have an on-site system approved by the council (the City of Kalamunda, the Shire of Mundaring or, in Gidgegannup, the City of Swan), such as septic tanks and leach drains or an ATU. Tell us which you have when you ring, because it changes where we start.

Do you pump out septic tanks or service ATUs?

No. We don’t do septic tank or ATU work. We clear blocked toilets, sinks and house drains on septic properties as well as sewered ones. If the tank or the leach drains are the problem, you’ll need a licensed liquid waste contractor or a septic specialist.

Gidgegannup is a long way from Ellenbrook. Will you still come?

Yes. The hills are a planned run east for us, and Gidgegannup, Parkerville and Stoneville take longer than High Wycombe or Maida Vale. We don’t promise a set time. Ring and we’ll give you an honest arrival time before you wait around.

Our Darlington block is steep. Does that change the job?

It can. Tell us about steps, gates, retaining walls and where we can park, and whether the drain runs downhill to a tank or out to the street. That tells us what to bring and where to start.

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.

• Blocked drains Midland
• Blocked drains Swan Valley & Bullsbrook
• Plumber Kalamunda
• Plumber Mundaring
• Plumber Greenmount & Darlington
• Plumber Swan View & Midvale

How we clear drains here.

• Blocked drains
• Hydro jetting
• CCTV drain inspection

Related pages

• Plumber Kalamunda, Gooseberry Hill & High Wycombe
• Plumber Mundaring, Parkerville & Stoneville
• Plumber Greenmount, Darlington & Glen Forrest
• McDermott Drains
• Blocked kitchen sink Perth
• Tree roots in sewer pipes
• Overflow relief gully full?
• Who pays for a blocked sewer?