Diamond Creek's plumbing facts
Sewered, with one gap
Nillumbik's 2024 to 2029 wastewater plan says reticulated sewerage has been provided to Diamond Creek. Yarra Valley Water's 2021 program list still includes a Diamond Creek area of 30 lots, dated 2028 and subject to change.
Septic across the Shire
There are approximately 4,600 onsite wastewater systems in Nillumbik, and about 80 per cent of the Shire's 430 square kilometres is non-urban.
Almost all houses
At the 2021 Census, 94.3% of occupied homes in the suburb of Diamond Creek were separate houses. Only 10.0% were rented, and 53.0% were owned with a mortgage.
Frost to plan for
The Bureau's Viewbank station (27 years from 1999) averages 14.0 days a year at or below 2°C and 3.2 at or below 0°C, with a record low of -2.8°C.
If your block is on septic
Nillumbik says owners need a permit before installing or altering an onsite system and a certificate to use it, and are required by law to maintain it. Once a property connects to sewer, the old septic tank must be properly decommissioned and Council told when that's done.
Not sure whether your lot is in the remaining program area? Yarra Valley Water can confirm it. Our septic systems page explains what a plumber checks on a service.
Stormwater: your part and Council's
Nillumbik makes owners responsible for all stormwater drainage on their property, including the section from the property to the legal point of discharge. Where Council's drain is in the street, some of your pipe sits outside the boundary.
Council looks after pipes and pits in drainage easements and road reserves, plus roadside drains such as kerb and channel or open table drains. House connections within the road reserve are excluded, so they're yours.
Frost and outdoor pipes
With Viewbank averaging a few frosts a year, pipes on the outside of the house deserve attention: garden taps, the cold supply to a hot water unit, and any copper on a shaded wall. Insulate them before June. If one splits, shut the water off at the meter and see burst pipes. Yarra Valley Water owns the meter and stop tap; the pipes from there to the house are yours.
What we would do
Buying in or around Diamond Creek? Ask whether the property is on sewer or septic before you sign, and if it's septic, ask for the permit and the maintenance and pump-out records. Victorian owners must keep those records, so a seller should have them. Then have a plumber who services septic systems look at it, because a failing system is the owner's to fix.