Who looks after which pipe in Dubbo
Council's drinking water goes to Dubbo, Wellington, Eumungerie, Mogriguy, Geurie, Mumbil, Brocklehurst, Wongarbon and Ballimore. Its sewer service maps cover Dubbo, Geurie, Mumbil, Nanima, Wellington and Wongarbon.
Council puts the line at the boundary connection point: everything on the house side is the owner's. It publishes two guides for owners, one on keeping tree roots out of sewer lines and one on stopping stormwater getting into the sewer, which it says helps prevent internal sewer overflows. A downpipe draining into a gully is the classic culprit. Our guide to who owns the sewer pipe compares other water authorities.
Dubbo conditions a plumber works with
Cold, clear winter nights
Dubbo Airport averages 45.1 days a year at or below 2°C and 20.4 at or below 0°C (1993 to 2026). Its lowest reading is -6.0°C. Exposed pipes and meters on the south side of a house are worth lagging.
Water under the hardness guideline
Council's water quality table gives typical total hardness under 150 mg/L in Dubbo and under 180 mg/L in Wellington, against an aesthetic guideline of 200 mg/L.
A town of houses
At the 2021 Census, 85.3% of occupied homes in Dubbo Regional Council's area were separate houses and 6.0% flats or apartments. 31.5% were rented.
On-site sewage outside the sewered towns
Every on-site sewage management system in the council area must be registered, and the owner must hold an Approval to Operate. Bought a rural block recently? You'll need to apply for your own. Council approval is also required before any work on the system, so a plumber altering a septic tank or its trenches needs that sorted first. See our septic systems page.
Five questions for any Dubbo plumber
- What's your NSW contractor licence number, so I can check it on the Public Register?
- Is this blockage on my side of the boundary connection, and how do you know?
- Will you lodge the paperwork with Council and give me a copy of the Certificate of Compliance?
- Replacing the hot water? Which temperature control device will you fit, and does the quote show any Energy Savings Scheme discount and my minimum payment?
- Which exposed pipes here should be lagged before winter?
What NSW rules add
NSW treats plumbing, drainage and gasfitting as specialist work, so contracting for even a small job needs a contractor licence. The licensee's name and number must appear in their ads. When a hot water heater is replaced in NSW, a temperature control device is required, even for a like-for-like swap, to keep showers and basins to 50°C. See tempering valves and the NSW overview.
Pages by problem: burst pipes, blocked drains, hot water, gas plumbing and emergency plumbers.
What we would do
Find your boundary connection and keep stormwater out of your gully. Most backed up drains in a house come back to one of those two. Before the first hard frost, wrap any bare pipe that runs outside. And whoever you book, check their licence on the Public Register before they start, not after the invoice arrives.