Plumbing facts for Bankstown
Mostly units, half rented
At the 2021 Census, 58.5% of the suburb's occupied homes were flats or apartments and 30.0% separate houses. 50.4% were rented, well above the NSW figure of 32.6%.
Rebuilt CBD drains
Canterbury-Bankstown Council laid 330 metres of new pipes and culverts under the CBD. The old system could only handle a one-in-five-year flood; the new one is built for a one-in-a-hundred-year event.
Every block has a discharge point
Council can tell you your property's legal point of discharge: the spot where its stormwater is meant to enter Council's drains.
Shared lines belong to owners
Inter-allotment lines that carry downpipe water from several houses to a Council pit are owned by those households together, not by Council.
The stormwater line is yours
The City of Canterbury Bankstown says drainage from your property is your responsibility until it reaches a point of connection with Council's system. That includes a pipe that discharges through the kerb. Council looks after its own pits and pipes, including Council pipes and pits that cross private land, and wants to hear about problems with those.
A new connection to the kerb and gutter, or into a Council drain, needs a Work Permit. If a plumber is quoting new stormwater work, ask who is applying for it and whether the quote includes it.
Sewer blockages: get it reported on the day
Your side of the sewer runs up to and includes the point of connection. If a plumber clears a blockage and finds it in Sydney Water's pipe, they need to report it to Sydney Water at the time. You can then claim reasonable out-of-pocket costs, for a maximum of 2 hours of work.
Where to go next
For a stubborn blockage, read blocked drains in Sydney. Overflowing after hours? Start with an emergency plumber.
What we'd do in Bankstown
Ask Council for your legal point of discharge before you pay for new stormwater work. It tells the plumber where the pipe has to end up, and saves digging twice. For a sewer blockage, ask the plumber up front to report it to Sydney Water if it turns out to be on their side, or the claim is gone. Tell us the job and we'll match you with a stormwater and drainage specialist.