My terrace shares a drain with next door. Who pays to fix it?

Both of you, most likely: under Sydney Water's rule, a private service two owners share is the shared responsibility of those owners. A drain specialist can find where the blockage or break is, which helps you and your neighbour agree on the cost.

Does Eastern Suburbs sewage still go into the ocean untreated?

A small share does. Sydney Water says less than 1% of Sydney's wastewater is discharged untreated, at Vaucluse, Diamond Bay and Diamond Bay South, and its Refresh project will see it all treated at Bondi in future. It doesn't change who owns the pipes on your property.

Plumbers in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs: terraces, units and sewers

Plumbers across the Eastern Suburbs Waverley, Woollahra, Randwick.

We use 'Eastern Suburbs' here for three council areas: Waverley, Woollahra and Randwick City. Most homes in all three are apartments, and many of the rest share walls, so shared pipes are a real question. Describe the problem and we'll match you with a licence-checked plumber who specialises in jobs like yours in terraces, semis and units.

Three council areas, one water company

Waverley

64.1% of occupied homes were flats or apartments at the 2021 Census and 18.1% semis, terraces or townhouses. 49.0% were rented.

Woollahra

55.6% apartments, 21.0% semis, terraces or townhouses and 22.3% separate houses, with 36.8% rented.

Randwick City

55.5% apartments and 26.8% separate houses. 46.4% of homes were rented.

Sewage to Bondi

Sydney Water says less than 1% of Sydney's wastewater still goes to the ocean untreated, at Vaucluse, Diamond Bay and Diamond Bay South. Its Refresh Vaucluse Diamond Bay project will see all of it treated at Bondi.

Terraces and semis: whose pipe?

In a row of terraces or a pair of semis, one private sewer line can serve more than one home before it reaches Sydney Water's system. Sydney Water treats a private line shared by two terraces as the joint responsibility of both owners. If next door's drain backs up into your courtyard, the fix and the bill may be shared, so talk before anyone digs.

Further along, the owner's pipes run to the point of connection with Sydney Water's network and include it, while Sydney Water owns the junction. That connection can sit outside your boundary.

Water pipes and the meter

Drinking water pipes from Sydney Water's system to your taps belong to the owner as well. Sydney Water maintains the meter, and it says it may also repair the short run of pipe from its main to the meter, as far as one metre inside your boundary. A leak on the street side of the meter is worth reporting to Sydney Water before you pay for a dig. For leaks you can't see, try leak detection in Sydney.

Big trees and new drains

Woollahra Municipal Council's tree rules cover most trees taller than 5 m or with a crown wider than 3 m, and work on them needs an application unless the species or the work is exempt. If a new drain has to pass near a large tree, check with Council before the trench goes in. In Waverley and Randwick, ask Council about its own tree rules first.

For blocked lines, see blocked drains in Sydney. We'll match you with a licence-checked drain or leak specialist for your part of the east.

What we would do

In an attached house, learn where your sewer line runs before a blockage forces the question. Next time a drain specialist is on site, ask them to trace it with a camera and mark where it joins next door's or Sydney Water's. Then, if a blockage turns up in Sydney Water's pipe, the plumber should report it on the spot so you can claim reasonable costs back.