Wanneroo facts
The suburb and the City
The City of Wanneroo lists the suburb among its own and runs its administration from it. The council-wide rules below are the City's.
Houses, plus other dwellings
At the 2021 Census, 86.9% of the suburb's occupied homes were separate houses and 10.2% townhouses, terraces or semis. 2.8% were other dwellings, against 0.6% across Western Australia.
Larger homes
51.5% had four or more bedrooms, and 20.7% were rented.
Deep bores on the way
Water Corporation plans two new deep bores near the corner of Mary Street and Lenore Road, with construction expected from late 2026 or early 2027, subject to approvals.
Your bore and Water Corporation's
Private garden bores draw on the shallowest aquifer, the Superficial Aquifer. Water Corporation says its new bores go to the deeper Leederville and Yarragadee aquifers, which are confined and don't interact with it.
Two rules apply to your own bore. The Sprinkler Switch-off covers bore water as well as scheme water from 1 June to 31 August. And a bore pump must never be cross connected to the house's drinking water pipes, or it can push bore water back into the supply. See backflow testing.
Sizing soakwells
The City's stormwater sheet says owners must keep runoff within their boundaries, using soakwells, spoon drains or similar. Allow about one downpipe for every 15 square metres of roof, no more than 12 metres apart.
Its table gives sizes as a guide: a 900mm by 900mm concrete soakwell holds 580 litres and drains about 47 square metres of roof or paving. In heavy rain, clay or limestone soils can still make soakwells overflow.
When a septic system struggles
The septic guide the City publishes, a Department of Health WA sheet, says failure usually means the drains or soakwells around the tank have clogged. Sewage backs up into the house pipes, often first noticed as slow toilets and sinks or overflow at the outside gully, or the ground goes soggy. That's a job for a plumber or drainage contractor.
To avoid it, have the tanks desludged about every eight years for two people and every four for four, and switch alternating drains each year. When sewer arrives, there's no legal duty to decommission the old system at connection, but it is required when the property is sold. More on our septic systems page, and for other jobs see blocked drains, hot water and an emergency plumber.
What we would do
If you have a bore, have a plumber confirm it is completely separate from the house's scheme water pipes, and fix the reticulation timer before 1 June. If you're on septic and the toilet is slow after rain, don't wait for the gully to overflow. We will match the job with a plumber who specialises in it, and your details reach only the plumber who accepts it.