Marrickville facts that change a plumbing job
Where Inner West began
Inner West Council started life as the Municipality of Marrickville on 1 November 1861.
Floodplain country
Council describes Marrickville's topography as floodplain. Its flooding page puts the suburb, with Sydenham, in the Marrickville Valley catchment, and lists Marrickville South as a catchment of its own.
Nine conservation areas
Council's plan counts 9 Heritage Conservation Areas in the Marrickville neighbourhood, from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s, including Llewellyn Estate, Norwood Park Estate and Porter's Brickworks.
Terraces, units and renters
In 2021 the suburb's homes were 47.2% flats or apartments, 18.5% semis, terraces or townhouses and 32.0% separate houses. 46.6% were rented.
Heritage areas and trees near pipes
Anywhere in the Inner West, pruning tree roots needs a Tree Works Permit. In a Heritage Conservation Area the bar is higher: removing a prescribed tree, or pruning a big share of its canopy, needs a development application.
The conservation areas with controls in Marrickville's chapter are Civic Precinct, David Street, Inter-War Group, Llewellyn Estate, Norwood Park Estate and Porter's Brickworks. If your home is in one, ask Council before a trench goes in near a tree or new pipework goes on the front of the house. Our tree roots page explains the repair options that leave trees alone.
Low ground and heavy rain
Heavy rain causes a second problem when it gets into the sewer. The usual ways in are a downpipe plumbed into a private sewer pipe, or a cracked pipe letting groundwater in. Sydney Water says that extra water can overload its pipes and cause overflows, including inside homes.
Your overflow relief gully is the safety valve: if the sewer backs up, it should spill outside first. Sydney Water says gullies that are damaged or sit too close to the ground can't do that job. A plumber can check yours and test your downpipes. See overflow relief gullies and stormwater.
Where Sydney Water's part begins
Your private wastewater system may run past your front boundary before it meets Sydney Water's, and you own it up to and including that point of connection. If a private pipe has collapsed under the footpath or road, Sydney Water may repair it for residential customers, as it may sections deeper than 2.5 metres. A licensed plumber has to confirm that digging up the road or footpath is the only fix. More at who owns the sewer pipe and blocked drains in Sydney.
What we'd do in Marrickville
Before any work on the outside of a house in a conservation area, including new downpipes or a drain trench near a tree, ask Inner West Council what approval it needs. Then have a plumber check whether any downpipe runs into the sewer and whether your overflow relief gully sits high enough. Both matter on low ground. We'll match you with a plumber who specialises in drainage for heritage streets.