Henley Beach plumbing facts
A pump station for 10,000 connections
SA Water's Cudmore Terrace Wastewater Pump Station serves around 10,000 connections and pumps to the Port Adelaide Relift Pump Station.
Units are common
At the 2021 Census, 57.6% of the suburb's occupied homes were separate houses, 19.8% semis or townhouses and 22.1% flats or apartments.
Three in ten rented
30.5% were rented, a little above the state's 27.6%. 36.1% were owned outright.
Charles Sturt council
ABS boundary files put the whole suburb in the City of Charles Sturt. Its website wouldn't load for us, so ask Council directly about street drains.
What SA Water is doing, and when
SA Water says the pump station is showing significant deterioration and no longer has the capacity for future demand. It is replacing about 425 metres of the existing rising main and rehabilitating the station, to meet demand for the Henley Beach area beyond 2030.
The project began in April 2024 but paused when a failed section of rising main was found. Laying the main across Cudmore Terrace and Hill Street continues until late November 2026, the pump station upgrade follows from late 2026, and the whole project is due to finish in 2027.
Is it your drain or the network?
If several homes nearby have slow drains or sewage smells at once, the cause is more likely in SA Water's network than in your pipes, so contact SA Water before booking. If it's only your home, the fault is probably on your side: a drain specialist can find it with a camera.
We couldn't verify SA Water's rule on exactly where its sewer pipe ends, so ask SA Water if a fault is near your boundary.
Keep the sewer and stormwater apart
Downpipes and outdoor drains feed the stormwater system, which the EPA says generally flows untreated to creeks, rivers and the sea. Polluting it is prohibited under the Water Quality Policy. Washing paint brushes or pouring anything but rain into a yard pit or the gutter sends it straight towards the beach. Our stormwater page explains what goes where.
Unit owners: before the plumber comes
- Find out whether the leaking pipe serves only your unit or the whole block.
- Tell the strata or community corporation manager about any leak into another unit.
- Renting? Send the agent a message with photos first.
- Ask the plumber for the eCOC once the work is done.
More Adelaide pages
Leak detection, toilet repairs, hot water and emergency plumbers. Back to plumbers in Adelaide.
What we would do
Ask the neighbours before you ring anyone. If the whole street is affected while the Cudmore Terrace works are on, it's SA Water's problem, not yours. If it's just your place, a drain specialist with a camera will show you where the blockage is and whether it's in your pipe or a shared one.