Will Blacktown City Council fix water running onto my land from next door?

Only in limited cases: when the water comes from defective roof drainage on a house, garage, shed or carport, or a man-made structure or drain has directed or concentrated it. Natural run-off, water across paving and absorption pit overflows are usually left to owners.

What is the stormwater charge on my Blacktown rates notice?

It's the Environmental Stormwater Service Charge, paid by residential and commercial owners. Council spends it on stormwater services such as maintaining its own stormwater assets and checking onsite detention devices.

Plumbers in Blacktown: absorption pits, seepage and sewer work

Plumbers in Blacktown Pits, slopes and the sewer.

Blacktown City Council says its older suburbs were generally built without inter-allotment drains, so blocks that fall to the rear often send roof water into absorption pits that spill onto the next yard in heavy rain. If that sounds like your place, we'll match you with a licence-checked stormwater plumber.

Blacktown facts for your plumber

Built before the late 1980s?

Council's fact sheet says older suburbs, generally those developed before the late 1980s, didn't get inter-allotment drainage lines. Blocks that fell to the rear used rubble or absorption pits for roof water instead.

A mix of homes

At the 2021 Census, 65.4% of the suburb's occupied homes were separate houses, 18.6% townhouses or semis and 15.8% flats. 43.4% were rented.

On the Wastewater Fix list

Sydney Water's update of 2 February 2026 names Blacktown among suburbs where its crews will spend the next 12 months finding stormwater that leaks into the sewer. Owners directly affected get a letterbox notice.

A stormwater line on your rates

Council funds stormwater services through the Environmental Stormwater Service Charge, a separate item on the rates notice for residential and commercial owners.

When an absorption pit overflows

Absorption pits are meant to let roof water soak away into the ground. When the ground is already saturated, water seeps back out and runs downhill onto the next property. Council lists overflows from these pits among the cases where it may decide not to act.

Adding dwellings to one of these blocks generally changes the picture. Council says the stormwater will then usually have to go through an inter-allotment drain, with an easement negotiated through the properties downhill.

Slopes and seepage

On a sloping block, Council's fact sheet tells owners to put in surface water controls, such as dish drains or surface inlets, to catch water coming from uphill. Any diversion mustn't push the problem onto properties further down, and Council recommends advice from an experienced plumber.

Seepage is groundwater, and it usually appears where a slope has been cut to make a flat yard or house pad. Council suggests sub-surface drains such as agricultural pipe to intercept it before it reaches the building.

Your sewer, Sydney Water's main

The sewer line under your yard is yours up to and including the point of connection; Sydney Water owns the junction on its main. Downpipes must never feed the sewer, which is exactly what its Wastewater Fix crews look for. For a blocked or overflowing line, see blocked drains in Sydney, or call an emergency plumber if it's spilling now.

What we'd do in Blacktown

Watch where the water goes in the next heavy rain, and take photos with the time showing. If it's coming from a neighbour's faulty roof drainage, that's one of the cases where Council's officers may step in. If it's coming from your own pit, a stormwater specialist can tell you whether a new pit, a dish drain or an easement connection is the practical answer, and we can match you with one.