Council's pipes and yours
| Where council's part ends | What that means for you | |
|---|---|---|
| Sewer | At the sewerage point of connection, called the jump-up. Council maintains the main sewer lines and manholes up to there. | Your house drain, past the jump-up, is yours to maintain. Keep stormwater and rainwater out of it. |
| Water | Up to and including the water meter, which sits at the property boundary with an automatic meter reader beside it. | All plumbing after the meter is the owner's to fix, including leaks in the yard and under the house. |
When the sewer blocks or overflows
Council's Customer Service Standards ask you to phone council straight away about a blocked or overflowing sewer. Field staff then work out whether the cause is in council's network or your private plumbing.
If it's council's network, council does the repair, and private contractors aren't allowed to work on its pipes. If it's in your drain, you arrange and pay for the fix, and council says to engage a licensed plumber. Its target is to respond to 90 per cent of sewer incidents within four hours of being told.
Council also says building over or close to its sewer or water pipes needs approval, unless the work meets the acceptable solutions in the Queensland Development Code (QDC MP 1.4). Talk to council before digging near them.
Mackay facts that matter for plumbing
Leak alerts from the meter
Owners and tenants can sign up to council's myh2o website to see their water use and get told about leaks or unusually high use. Water notices only arrive every six months, in May and November.
Rain-heavy summers
The Bureau's Mackay M.O station averages 1597.3 mm of rain a year, with February the wettest month at 313.3 mm. Its highest daily total on record is 388.6 mm, in March.
Blue water in newer homes
Council names copper pipe corrosion, which it calls common in new homes, as the cause of blue or green water. Run the tap for 2 minutes; if it keeps happening, call a plumber.
A city of houses
At the 2021 Census, 84.7% of occupied homes in the Mackay council area were separate houses and 3.6% flats or apartments. 28.6% were rented.
What to keep out of Mackay's sewer
Council's sewerage page is blunt: flush only toilet paper and human waste. Wipes, including the ones sold as flushable, sanitary products, food scraps, fats and oils, chemicals and nappies go in the bin.
It also warns about tree roots getting into pipes, and asks owners not to plant trees near pipes or cover access pits. The overflow relief gully in your yard is there to stop sewage backing up inside, so keep its grate clear.
Checking a Mackay plumber
Queensland's plumbing licences come from the QBCC. Use myQBCC to search the QBCC licensee register for the business and the occupational plumber and drainer register for the tradesperson. Our licence check guide explains what you'll see.
A QBCC licensee must advertise under its licensed name with its licence number, and that includes websites and social media pages. For notifiable work, expect the plumber to register the job with the QBCC within 10 business days of the invoice.
Mackay specialists
Pick the page that fits: hot water, leak detection, gas fitting or an emergency plumber. Mackay isn't on the Queensland Government's list of natural gas distribution networks, so the gas page covers LPG as well as mains gas.
What we would do
Sign up to myh2o so you hear about a leak well before the next six-monthly notice. Find your jump-up and your meter, and keep both clear of garden beds and pot plants: council expects that access anyway. If the sewer overflows, ring council before a plumber, because council's pipes are off limits to private contractors. For anything past the jump-up or the meter, book a plumber who does that job regularly and check them in myQBCC.