Looking after your Wastewater

Whenever you flush a toilet, have a shower, or unplug a sink, that water flows through your plumbing and into the public wastewater network. It's important that we all look after our wastewater network to avoid blockages that take time and money to fix.

Fact: The two most common things we see in our wastewater network that cause blockages are cooking oil and wet wipes. 

Keep the network flowing inside your home:

x Don't pour fats and oils down your sink. Instead, when you use a little oil, clean your pan with a paper towel, or let it cool before disposing in the bin, or reuse it another day (yes you can reuse oil and it can save you money!). Fats and oils can create fatbergs in our wastewater network (a rock-like mass of waste matter) that block pipes, which take time to clear of.

x Put your coffee grinds in the compost or bin, never down the sink. 

x Never flush wet wipes, tampons, sanitary pads, nappies, cloth, hair and other non-biodegradable material down the toilet. When sent into the wastewater network these things can lump together to create what we call an ugly rag monster.

✔ Choose environmentally friendly washing machine detergents.

Keep the network flowing outside your home

x Avoid damaging any public wastewater pipes which pass through your property.

x Never plant trees or shrubs on your property within 1.5 metres of buried wastewater pipelines – tree roots can damage the pipes and can cost you a lot in repair bills.

x Never pour motor oil, fuels, solvents or highly toxic substances into the gully trap – dispose of these items safely.

✔ Make sure gutters and down pipes are connected to stormwater drains (not wastewater). If connected to the wastewater system, wastewater overflows can occur.

✔ If public wastewater pipes pass through your property make sure access to these pipes is not restricted by retaining walls or garden sheds.

✔ Maintain your wastewater drainage system in good condition. Leaking pipes can block and be a public health risk.