Three water companies, and which one is yours
Melbourne doesn't have one water company. It has three retailers, and your suburb decides which one you deal with.
Greater Western Water covers the CBD out to Werribee, Bacchus Marsh and the Macedon Ranges. South East Water runs from Port Melbourne to Portsea and about 30 km east of Pakenham. Yarra Valley Water stretches from Wallan in the north to Warburton in the east.
Some suburbs appear on two lists: Clayton and Oakleigh are on both South East Water's and Yarra Valley Water's. Don't guess. The company named on your water bill is the one to call about a burst main, a fault at the meter or sewage coming out of a manhole.
Where your part of the sewer ends
| Where its pipe meets yours | If the blockage is on its side | |
|---|---|---|
| South East Water | At the inspection opening, which it says is "often near the property boundary". Pipes and fittings on the house side of it are the owner's responsibility. | It reimburses "fair and reasonable costs", but not if the plumber didn't refer the blockage to it, used CCTV or a high-pressure jetter, or cleared tree roots. |
| Yarra Valley Water | It depends on the property. Its own pages describe the boundary in two different ways, so ask Yarra Valley Water to confirm where yours is. | If the blockage is yours, you arrange and pay a licensed plumber. It won't reimburse internal pipe repairs. |
| Greater Western Water | When the inspection shaft is within 1 metre of your boundary, its part ends at the Inspection Opening (27A fitting). If its main runs through your block, it maintains the main and pipes up to 1 metre from it. | We haven't confirmed its reimbursement rules. It does say keeping the inspection shaft above ground and easy to reach is the owner's job. |
The water supply side is simpler. South East Water and Yarra Valley Water both say the pipes from the water meter to the house are the property owner's responsibility. Yarra Valley Water owns the meter and stop tap, and repairs the pipe from the main to the meter.
The rules for every water company we've checked are in our guide, who owns the sewer pipe.
What's different about plumbing in Melbourne
Stormwater has three owners
Melbourne Water manages about 1,400 km of regional drains and councils about 25,000 km of local drains and street gutters. Roof gutters, downpipes and the pipes across your land are yours. A blocked downpipe is yours to sort out; a blocked drain in the street goes to your council.
Houses, townhouses and apartments
At the 2021 Census, 67.8% of Greater Melbourne's occupied homes were separate houses, 16.2% townhouses, terraces or semis, and 15.6% flats or apartments. In a block of units, South East Water says it isn't responsible for shared private pipes in an owners' corporation.
Water that's low in hardness
South East Water's hardness readings averaged 18 mg/L in 2024-25. Yarra Valley Water's sampling areas averaged 10 to 43 mg/L in 2025-26. The guideline, which exists partly to limit scale in hot water systems, is 200 mg/L.
Cold mornings, few hard frosts
The Bureau's Olympic Park station averages 1.5 days a year at 2°C or colder, from 13 years of records. Moorabbin Airport, in the south-east, averages 8.9 such days and 1.9 at freezing or below. Pipes in exposed, frost-prone spots still deserve lagging.
Gas hot water after 1 March 2027
From 1 March 2027, once a gas hot water system in an existing home reaches the end of its life, it must be replaced with an efficient electric alternative, such as a heat pump.
A gas unit that still works can stay, and it can still be repaired. Gas heating for owner occupiers isn't affected, and nor is gas cooking in existing homes. We haven't found the regulation itself, only the Government's announcement and Solar Victoria's page, so check current rules before you buy.
Our Melbourne hot water page covers what it means for owners, landlords and renters, and who can get the Solar Homes rebate.
Checking a Melbourne plumber's licence
Plumbing licences in Victoria are administered by the Building and Plumbing Commission (BPC). Every plumber is either registered or licensed for each class of work they do.
That difference matters when the job needs a compliance certificate, because only a licensed plumber can issue one. Ask for the full name and number of the person doing your job, then look it up with the BPC yourself. Our licence check guide shows what to look for.
Warning signs Victorian regulators have flagged
- Plumbing websites that look almost the same under different names. In May 2025 Consumer Affairs Victoria warned about one company whose ABN was linked to more than 200 of them.
- A quick look, then an urgent job priced in the thousands and a deposit of usually 50% on the spot. That was the pattern described in the same warning.
- A marketplace or app listing with no registration or licence number shown. The Victorian Building Authority raised this in March 2021.
Melbourne specialists and suburbs
Pick the page that matches your problem: hot water, blocked drains, leak detection, gas plumbing, pipe relining or an emergency plumber.
Suburb pages, starting with Frankston, name the water company and council for that area and the local rules that touch plumbing there.
What we would do
Before you book anyone, find your water company on your bill and work out where the problem is: inside the house, in the yard, or out past the fence. That decides who you call first and who is likely to pay. Then get the plumber's name and number and check them with the BPC. A plumber who does your kind of job every week will also know your water company's rules, and will refer a blockage on its side instead of quietly clearing it at your cost.