Drain backing up? Check the inspection opening
Find the cap
Look for a flat, round, white PVC disk about 180 mm across, usually 1 to 2 metres in from a front, side or back boundary. Mulch or pavers can hide it. Council's Red-e-Map shows sewer connection points.
Run a tap inside
If the opening fills, drains slowly or overflows, the blockage may be in Council's sewer main, so contact Council.
If it stays dry
The blockage is most likely in your own pipes. That calls for a plumber with jet rodding gear and a pipe inspection camera.
Look at the gully
An overflow relief gully spilling while no water is being used also points to Council's main. Clear anything sitting on its grate.
Wellington Point facts
Storm tide in the low spots
Redland City Council's disaster profile lists flash flooding, creek flooding and storm tide as the suburb's main flood risks. It names low-lying areas around Sovereign Lake, Allan Day Drive, Wellington Point Reserve and east of O'Connell Parade and Duke Street, and says Hilliards Creek is prone to flash flooding.
Some homes off the sewer
Council notes that some properties have on-site wastewater systems or rainwater tanks, or use bottled gas for hot water and cooking.
Big family homes
At the 2021 Census, 89.1% of the suburb's occupied homes were separate houses and 63.9% had 4 or more bedrooms. 43.3% were owned with a mortgage and 20.0% rented.
Openings expected since 1990
Council says houses built after 1990 should all have an inspection opening cap. Because it's part of the home's internal plumbing, fitting, finding and uncovering it falls to the owner.
Your meter's built-in leak detector
Council owns the water meter and the pipes that feed it. The run from the meter to the house is the owner's. Meters usually sit on or close to the street-front boundary.
On a dial-type meter, the small dial in the middle spins whenever water is used: if it turns while everything is off, you have a leak. Only Council's City Water team, or someone it has authorised in writing, may touch Council's part of the meter. Some unit complexes developed before January 2008 have private meters Council doesn't own.
Water that tastes or looks wrong
Council says discoloured water can come from corrosion inside a home's own pipes, and plastic pipes above ground can break down and change the taste. Buried plastic pipe can absorb spilt petrol, diesel or turps; if the taste or smell is only at your place, Council says call a licensed plumber. Lead can also come from household fittings such as brass, particularly in older homes.
What we would do
Find your inspection opening on a dry day, long before anything blocks, and keep it out from under garden beds. When a drain backs up, that one check with a running tap tells you whether to ring Council or a plumber. In one of the low-lying areas Council lists? Keep the gully and stormwater outlets clear before storm season.
Find a Wellington Point specialist
Choose blocked drains, leak detection, hot water repairs or gas fitting, and the job goes to a licence-checked plumber who does that work. Nearby pages cover Capalaba, Victoria Point and the Redlands.