On a property with substantial roof area, paving and landscaping, the most common wasted call-out is the one where the sewer drain gets cleared and the problem was always stormwater. Two questions tell them apart, and both take seconds.
Question one: does the problem only happen when it rains? Question two: is any waste water involved — anything from a toilet, sink, shower or laundry?
A problem that appears only during or just after rain, with no waste water anywhere, is a stormwater problem. Stormwater is a separate pipe system carrying rain from roofs, gutters and paved surfaces. It has its own inlets, its own pits and its own blockages, and nothing done to the sewer drain affects it in any way.
A problem involving waste water — regardless of the weather — is the sanitary drain. That system runs whenever anyone in the building uses water, so its symptoms do not care whether it is raining.
The confusing case is a property where both are happening, which is more common than it sounds because the two systems often share the same ground and the same causes: roots, settlement and damaged pipe do not distinguish between them. If you have waste water backing up indoors and a pit surcharging outside during rain, you may genuinely have two problems, and saying so on the call is far more useful than describing it as one.
The reason this is worth getting right before anyone attends is simply that they are different pipes with different access points. A visit spent on the wrong system is a visit spent, and the original problem is still there when the next rain arrives.
One call, one conversation. Describe what the fixtures are doing and it usually narrows down quickly.
Call 0483 909 757Two minutes of observation here saves considerably more than two minutes later.
Only during rain, or regardless of the weather. This one distinction does most of the work.
Anything from a toilet, sink, shower or laundry means the sanitary drain, whatever else is going on.
Grates, pits and channel drains blocked with leaves or silt are a surface problem, not an underground one, and are often the whole answer.
Which low spot, how deep, and how long it takes to disappear. That describes the problem far better than "the yard floods".
The detail lives on the service pages rather than being repeated here. These two cover the method side; the three below them cover the problem side.
A water-jetting method that cuts through a blockage and scours build-up off the pipe wall rather than only punching an opening through it.
Relevant when a drain blocks repeatedly, or grease, sediment or root matter is lining the pipe.
A camera survey that shows the inside of the pipe so the blockage can be located and the pipe condition assessed before any repair decision.
Relevant when a drain keeps blocking, when pipe damage is suspected, or before authorising repair work.
Main-line wastewater blockages, where several fixtures back up at once or an overflow relief gully starts discharging outside.
Rainwater drainage problems — surcharging pits, overflowing downpipes and pooling in the yard during or straight after heavy rain.
Fixture-level toilet blockages, and the signs that separate a pan or branch problem from a blockage further down the main drain.
Or start from the blocked drain services hub if you are not sure which one applies.
Ask whether it only happens when it rains, and whether any waste water is involved. Rain-only with no waste water is stormwater — a separate system carrying rain from roofs and paved areas. Waste water backing up, whatever the weather, is the sanitary drain. The two systems are separate pipes, so work on one does nothing for the other.
Yes. The two systems often run through the same ground and are affected by the same underlying causes — roots, settlement and damaged pipe do not distinguish between them. If you have waste water backing up indoors and separately a pit surcharging during rain, describe both when you call rather than merging them into one complaint.
More general questions are answered on the blocked drain FAQ.
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Adjacent pages on this site: blocked drains Burleigh Heads and blocked drains Surfers Paradise .
Have ready: which fixtures are affected, whether rain is involved, and whether this has happened before.
Call 0483 909 757
