Can I pipe my downpipes to the street drain in Innaloo?

Generally no. The City of Stirling wants rain kept on the lot, and only allows a private connection to its system where high groundwater stops infiltration working and there's capacity to spare.

We can't say for any street. Water Corporation upgraded the drains under Pearson Street and Scarborough Beach Road in 2021 for rare and extreme rain, and the City of Stirling says it has no flood mapping data.

Plumbers in Innaloo: townhouses, on-site drainage and main drains

Plumbers in Innaloo Mostly townhouses.

Innaloo is mostly townhouses and semis, which sets it apart from the rest of Perth. The City of Stirling handles local stormwater and its on-site rules, while Water Corporation runs the main drains and the sewer. Tell us what's wrong and we'll match you with a licence-checked plumber who specialises in exactly that.

Innaloo in four facts

Townhouse territory

At the 2021 Census, 61.6% of occupied homes in the suburb of Innaloo were semi-detached, row or terrace houses or townhouses, against 31.2% separate houses and 7.1% flats. 39.6% were rented.

Every drop stays on the lot

The City of Stirling requires all rain falling within a lot to be held there, in soakwells, holding tanks or infiltration basins it approves in writing. New developments must hold at least 15mm of rain across the whole site.

Piped connections are the exception

Stirling won't approve a private pipe into its stormwater system unless the owner shows high groundwater would stop soakage working, and only where the system has spare capacity.

A bigger main drain

In 2021 Water Corporation finished new culverts under Pearson Street and Scarborough Beach Road and relined and cleared the Stephenson Avenue channel, to give homes better protection in rare and extreme rainfall.

Developing or subdividing a lot

Stirling's criteria apply when you develop or subdivide. Storage is worked out as the hard surface area in square metres multiplied by 0.015m, giving cubic metres. A full drainage management plan is needed if more than 90% of the site will be hard surface, the building is over 2 storeys, there's a basement car park, or groundwater can rise within 1.2m of the surface.

A plumber who specialises in stormwater can size the soakwells or tank from the roof and paving areas and show where each one drains.

Sewer blockages in a townhouse

Water Corporation leaves the property's sewer connection with the owner, gully, inspection shaft and rising shaft included, as far as the junction with its main. Clearing a blockage on that stretch is the owner's cost. If the plumber finds it in the main instead, Water Corporation clears it and pays the plumber a standard fee for locating it.

In a group of townhouses, find out whether the blocked line serves more than one home before work starts, so the right owners are involved. See blocked drains in Perth and our guide to who owns the sewer pipe.

What we would do

If you're thinking about a second dwelling or more paving, ask the City about its drainage criteria before plans go in, because a site that is more than 90% hard surface needs a full drainage plan. For a courtyard that floods now, get a stormwater specialist to check the existing soakwells before anyone pours more concrete.