The council area at a glance
A council area of houses
At the 2021 Census, 89.1% of occupied homes in the City of Tea Tree Gully were separate houses. 43.1% were owned with a mortgage and 18.2% rented. The median age was 41.
Six wards
The council area is divided into six wards: Pedare, Drumminor, Hillcott, Balmoral, Steventon and Water Gully.
Everyone on the CWMS is SA Water's
SA Water has run the CWMS since 1 July 2022. Anyone still connected is an SA Water sewerage customer and pays SA Water sewerage rates, not the old Council charge.
Conversions in stages
More than 700 properties had been converted. Remaining properties are grouped into four construction zones, with crews in Banksia Park and Tea Tree Gully and a low pressure sewer completed in St Agnes.
How a conversion works
A meeting first
Before connecting each property, SA Water meets the owner to talk through pipeline routes and the work planned on the block.
Gravity or pressure
Where a standard gravity connection can't remove the sewage effectively, SA Water installs a pressure sewer with a small tank and pump instead.
A new inspection point
SA Water fits an inspection point near the old septic tank. That point sets where your responsibility begins.
The old tank goes
The septic tank is decommissioned and filled in, and the property is reinstated. SA Water keeps ownership of the new pipework on your land, recorded as an encumbrance on the title.
Living with a pressure sewer
The lid usually sits in a garden near the house. SA Water owns the new pressure sewer equipment and pays for the power the pump uses.
Some things can damage the pump: wet wipes (even 'flushable' ones), coffee grinds, cat litter, cooking oil. If the pump fails because of them, you may have to pay for the repair. Want to move or alter any plumbing SA Water owns? You need its approval, and an authorised contractor must do the work at your cost.
Everything else
Most jobs here are ordinary ones: blocked drains, hot water and leaks. Suburb pages cover Modbury and Golden Grove. For a conversion question, go to SA Water first.
What we would do
If your property has been converted, find the new inspection point and keep it clear: it's where SA Water's part ends and yours begins. Before a renovation, landscaping or a new shed, check where SA Water's pipes run, because moving them needs its approval and you pay. And keep anything but the three Ps out of the toilet.