Why do drains in Midvale and Koongamia keep blocking with roots?

Much of the housing here was built from the early 1950s, when clay sewer pipe was common, and decades-old gardens sit on top of it. Roots get in through cracks and joints. We clear them with a drain machine or hydro jetting, and a drain camera shows where they’re getting in.

Do I need City of Swan approval to fix a blocked drain in Guildford?

Clearing a blockage from a gully or inspection shaft doesn’t change the building. If a damaged section needs digging up and replacing, check with the City of Swan first, because it says development approval is required before any works in Guildford/Mandoon.

Do you clear blocked drains in Midland shops and cafés?

Yes. We clear toilets, floor wastes, kitchen lines and shared lines in shops and units. We don’t pump out grease traps, because that’s a job for a licensed liquid-waste contractor.

How far is Midland from you?

Our Ellenbrook base is about 18 km north of Midland. We don’t promise a set time, but we’ll tell you honestly when we can be there.

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.

East · Blocked drains, Midland and Guildford

Blocked drains in Midland, Guildford, Swan View and Midvale

The Government Railway Workshops kept Midland busy for 90 years, from 1904 until March 1994, and the town spread out from the Town Hall and Post Office beside them. Around it is some of the oldest housing in Perth’s east. Guildford was settled in 1829 and is now on the State Heritage Register, and Midvale and Koongamia went up as State Housing from the early 1950s. Old sewer lines under mature trees are the usual reason a drain here keeps blocking.

The short answer

McDermott Plumbing clears blocked drains, toilets and sinks in Midland, Woodbridge, Hazelmere, Guildford, South Guildford, Viveash, Swan View, Midvale, Stratton, Jane Brook, Koongamia, Bellevue and Red Hill. Call (08) 6187 3999 or text 0406 882 648. Our Ellenbrook base is about 18 km north of Midland, and we’ll give you an honest arrival time. We clear with a drain machine or the hydro jetter, and use a CCTV drain camera to find roots or a broken section when a line keeps blocking. If sewage is overflowing from Water Corporation’s main or onto the street, call Water Corporation on 13 13 75 as well.

Midland, Woodbridge, Hazelmere and Bellevue

Midland Junction grew around its Town Hall (1906) and Post Office (1913) and spread east and north over the next 70 years. Midland Gate shifted the shopping focus in the 1970s, and the old centre is now being rebuilt with mixed commercial and residential buildings. That puts older shops and houses next to new units, and the jobs range from a blocked toilet in an older brick home to a shared line in a new apartment block.

Woodbridge was called West Midland until its name was gazetted on 1 March 2001, and the Woodbridge Lakes estate was built near the old workshops site. Hazelmere has houses at the Guildford end, rural land in the middle and industry to the east. Bellevue is an even mix of homes, industry and parkland along the Helena River. Its early-20th-century clay pits have mostly been filled in. Red Hill, up the scarp on Toodyay Road, had only 98 residents at the 2011 Census and is home to the regional landfill. If you’re on a rural or hills lot out there, tell us whether you’re on sewer or septic. We clear blocked household drains, but we don’t do septic or ATU work.

Guildford and South Guildford: check the heritage rules

Guildford was founded in 1829 where the Helena River meets the Swan, and it’s one of only three towns in the metropolitan area on the National Trust’s register. The City of Swan says development approval is needed before any works in Guildford/Mandoon, because it’s a State Heritage-listed place and a Local Heritage Area. In the Woodbridge Heritage Area, approval is most likely needed for any alterations, additions or new building.

Clearing a blocked drain from an inspection shaft or gully doesn’t change the house. But if the drain camera finds a broken or collapsed section that needs digging up and replacing, which is work we refer on, check with the City of Swan’s planners before anyone digs. Across the Helena River, South Guildford has its own older streets, and Viveash was subdivided by Midland Brick in 1967, so most of its homes are more than 50 years old. If you’re not sure of your property’s heritage status, the City of Swan can tell you.

Swan View, Midvale, Koongamia, Stratton and Jane Brook

Midvale was developed in the early 1950s on the old Helena Vale racecourse, and much of it was State Housing. A good share of that was later redeveloped by the Department of Housing. Koongamia was built as a State Housing Commission suburb. Where old homes have been replaced or added to, new PVC often joins a much older line, and that joint is a common place for roots to get in. Swan View is almost all homes and parkland, backing onto John Forrest National Park, and had 7,889 residents at the 2021 Census. Stratton was called Wexcombe until 1989. Jane Brook has wineries with restaurants, which means commercial kitchens alongside the house calls.

Water Corporation says homes more than 15 years old are less likely to have PVC sewer pipes, and that a hairline crack is all a root needs to get in. Most of this area is well past that, and big established gardens are the norm.

What blocks drains around Midland

Tree roots in older clay sewer lines under established gardens and verges, especially in Midvale, Koongamia, Swan View, Guildford and the older Midland streets.
Old joints where a renovation or redevelopment has tied new pipe into the original line.
Fat and food in kitchen lines, from family homes to Midland’s cafés and the Jane Brook winery restaurants. Water Corporation says fats, oils and grease cause 30% of its wastewater blockages. We clear kitchen lines and floor wastes. Pumping out a grease trap is a liquid-waste contractor’s job.
Wet wipes and paper towel in toilets, which Water Corporation says belong in the bin.

Blocked sink in Midland?

In a post-war Midvale or Midland kitchen, a sink that drains slowly is often grease building up in an old waste pipe that has narrowed over the years. In a newer Woodbridge or Midland unit, check whether the dishwasher shares the sink waste, and whether the neighbours are having trouble too. If only the sink is slow, our blocked kitchen sink guide has the safe things to try first. If the toilet, shower or outdoor overflow relief gully is also backing up, the blockage is further down the drain. Stop using water and call us.

How we clear it

We clear from the inspection shaft or the nearest sensible access point, with a drain machine for a simple choke or the hydro jetter for roots, fat and scale. When a drain keeps coming back, the CCTV drain camera shows what is causing it and where it is along the line, so you know whether you’re dealing with a one-off or a pipe that roots will keep getting into. We’re upfront about anything we don’t do ourselves.

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: Midland, Woodbridge, Hazelmere, Guildford, South Guildford, Viveash, Swan View, Midvale, Stratton, Jane Brook, Koongamia, Bellevue and Red Hill.

Common questions

Why do drains in Midvale and Koongamia keep blocking with roots?: Much of the housing here was built from the early 1950s, when clay sewer pipe was common, and decades-old gardens sit on top of it. Roots get in through cracks and joints. We clear them with a drain machine or hydro jetting, and a drain camera shows where they’re getting in.
Do I need City of Swan approval to fix a blocked drain in Guildford?: Clearing a blockage from a gully or inspection shaft doesn’t change the building. If a damaged section needs digging up and replacing, check with the City of Swan first, because it says development approval is required before any works in Guildford/Mandoon.
Do you clear blocked drains in Midland shops and cafés?: Yes. We clear toilets, floor wastes, kitchen lines and shared lines in shops and units. We don’t pump out grease traps, because that’s a job for a licensed liquid-waste contractor.
How far is Midland from you?: Our Ellenbrook base is about 18 km north of Midland. We don’t promise a set time, but we’ll tell you honestly when we can be there.
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 14 October 2026. General information only. Every property is different, so call us to talk about yours.

More Perth plumbing help

Need a plumber now?

Call (08) 6187 3999 or call/text 0406 882 648. 24/7 for emergencies. Tell us the suburb and what’s happening.

Call (08) 6187 3999 Message us now