Lalor facts for plumbing
The pipe to the street is yours
Under Whittlesea's General Local Laws, every owner must keep each stormwater pipe from the property to the council drain in the road reserve properly built and repaired.
Roots, debris and paving
Council says stormwater problems can start when roots or debris block the underground pipes on a property, or when gutters, downpipes, paving or rainwater tanks aren't properly managed.
Houses, many paid off
At the 2021 Census, 88.8% of occupied homes in the suburb of Lalor were separate houses, and 39.1% were owned outright, against 32.2% across Victoria.
Water hardness
Lalor straddles Yarra Valley Water's Bundoora and Epping sampling areas, which averaged 26 and 30 mg/L of hardness in 2025-26, against a 200 mg/L guideline.
Sewer drains and Yarra Valley Water
Whittlesea notes that Yarra Valley Water manages the sewer carrying water from your laundry, kitchen, bathroom and toilet to the main, and asks owners to clean and repair their private sewage drains.
If a blockage is in your pipes, Yarra Valley Water expects you to arrange and pay for a licensed plumber. Its responsibility near the property varies from site to site, so ask it to confirm before anyone digs at the boundary. Our guide to sewer pipe ownership explains more.
When stormwater misbehaves
Overflowing pits, water lying against the house or a downpipe that backs up can all point to a blockage between the house and the street. Council's advice is to hire a qualified plumber or a drain cleaning service to check and fix your drainage.
Our tree roots page explains what a plumber does about roots. Other starting points: blocked drains in Melbourne, a CCTV drain inspection or hot water in Melbourne.
What we would do
If stormwater keeps backing up, ask a drain specialist to camera the line from the downpipes to the council drain, because Whittlesea makes that whole run your responsibility. Ask for the footage and a note of where any roots or breaks are. For the sewer, find the inspection opening first and keep it clear, so the plumber can quickly tell which part of the system is blocked.