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Blocked drains, CCTV inspections and jet blasting around Maitland and Newcastle

A camera shows what's inside the pipe, so the repair goes where the problem is.

Blocked drains, CCTV inspections, high pressure jet blasting and leak testing for homes and businesses, from our base in Thornton.

Call 0474 659 574 Book a drain job

Drawing of a drain camera on a cable, fed down an inspection opening and along a pipe to a mass of tree roots at a joint, with the camera view on a screen above Camera view Inspection opening Backed-up water Roots at a joint Camera

What each service is for

Clearing a drain gets the water moving. The camera and the leak test tell you why it stopped, or where water is getting out.

  • Blocked drains

    Slow or backed-up sinks, showers, toilets and outside drains, cleared and running again.

  • CCTV inspections

    A camera on a cable travels the pipe and shows roots, cracks, sags or whatever is stuck, and how far along it sits.

  • High pressure jet blasting

    Water fired backwards from the nozzle pulls it along the pipe while it cuts through roots, fat and silt.

  • Leak testing

    Finding water you're paying for but not using, and checking whether a drain holds water or lets it out.

Signs a drain is blocking

Inside the house

  • A sink, shower or bath draining slowly
  • Gurgling from a drain or the toilet when something else empties
  • Toilet water rising higher than usual after a flush
  • A sewer smell from a floor waste or the shower
  • Several fixtures slow at once, which points further down the line

Outside

  • The overflow relief gully grate lifted, or wet ground around it
  • A soggy or sunken patch, or unusually green grass, along the pipe route
  • Water pooling at the foot of a downpipe when it rains

Until it's cleared

  • Hold off on the washing machine, dishwasher, showers and flushing anything that drains into the blocked line.
  • Keep the overflow relief gully grate clear. A pot plant, paver or garden bed over it stops it doing its job.
  • Keep children and pets away from any overflow.
  • Try the bucket test at the inspection shaft to see whether it's your line or the main.

Call 0474 659 574

Where the drains run on a house block

Cross-section of a house block: fixtures inside drain down into one sewer pipe that falls towards the boundary, past an overflow relief gully and an inspection shaft, into Hunter Water's sewer main. A downpipe feeds a separate stormwater pipe to the kerb. A tree's roots reach the sewer pipe. Yours Hunter Water A B C D E F G H
Not to scale. Every block is laid out a little differently.
  1. AToilet, shower and basin, each with its own trap.
  2. BYour sewer drain, falling towards the main.
  3. COverflow relief gully. Its grate sits lower than your floor, so a sewer blockage lifts it and spills outside first.
  4. DInspection shaft: a round opening set in concrete with a plastic or metal lid.
  5. EHunter Water's sewer main, under the street or through a back yard.
  6. FTree roots, which get into a drain at its joints.
  7. GDownpipe from the gutter.
  8. HStormwater to the kerb, in its own pipes, never into the sewer.

Which part is yours

Hunter Water's rule is that the sewer pipes and fittings on your property are yours to maintain, up to where they join its system, and that includes the inspection shaft. The main beyond that is theirs.

Why the gully matters

When a sewer line blocks, the waste has to come out somewhere. With the gully grate clear and lower than every drain inside, it comes out in the yard. Covered over or buried under a garden bed, the next lowest opening is usually a shower or floor waste inside.

Two separate systems

Downpipes and yard pits carry rain to the street. The sewer carries everything from inside. Hunter Water warns that stormwater getting into the sewer in heavy rain can cause sewage overflows, so a downpipe running into a sewer line is worth fixing.

How a blocked drain job runs

  1. Tell us what's happening

    Which fixtures are slow or backing up, whether it's inside or out in the yard, and whether the gully grate has lifted. That narrows down where along the line to start.

  2. Get into the line

    An inspection opening, the overflow relief gully or a fixture gives access to the pipe without digging.

  3. Clear the blockage

    High pressure jet blasting cuts through roots, fat and wipes and flushes the pieces on down the pipe.

  4. Look inside with the camera

    Where a drain keeps blocking or the cause isn't clear, the CCTV camera goes down the line to show what's in there and how far along.

  5. Talk through what it found

    A clear pipe, roots at a joint, a sag that holds water, or a cracked section. You hear what it means for the drain and what the options are.

  6. Run water through

    Taps, showers and toilets run to check the line is flowing freely.

Blocked drains

Includes
CCTV inspections, high pressure jet blasting, leak testing
For
Domestic and commercial clients
Hours
Open 24 hours, 7 days
Based
Thornton NSW
Our sewer jetter on its trailer at the kerb, a petrol engine and a red hose reel on board, with red and green hoses run across the footpath to the house
Our sewer jetter
Our drain camera set up beside a house: the screen and keyboard case open on the ground, its red cable reel feeding the camera down an inspection opening
Our drain camera

What happens when a drain is left

  • Sewage inside

    If the overflow relief gully is covered, blocked or sitting too high, the lowest drain inside overflows instead, often a shower or floor waste.

  • Roots that come back

    Clearing cuts roots back, but the joint they came through is still open. They keep growing on the water and nutrients the pipe gives them.

  • Water in the ground

    A cracked drain leaks into the soil beside footings and paths, and the gap lets more roots in.

  • A bigger water bill

    A leaking water pipe runs day and night, whether anyone is home or not. Often the first sign is the bill, or a meter that turns with every tap off.

Drains around Thornton, Maitland and Newcastle

  • Thornton, Chisholm and Woodberry

    Mostly houses on newer estates, each with its own sewer line, gully and stormwater running to the street. On a house, the drain from your fixtures to the sewer main is yours to look after.

  • East Maitland and Maitland

    Older homes sit beside new ones. An older drain can be clay pipe laid in short lengths, and every joint between them is a place roots can get in, with mature trees in the yard and along the street.

  • Central Newcastle

    Most homes are flats or apartments, where kitchens and bathrooms on several floors share a stack and one drain out. A blockage low in that line backs up into the lowest units first, and it's usually a job for the strata or building manager to book.

Thornton sits on the Hunter River floodplain, and the year here swings between wet spells and dry ones. In the dry, roots go looking for the moisture at sewer joints. The blockage they build often shows up once heavy rain pushes more water through a pipe that has already narrowed.

Common questions

Is the blockage in my pipes or Hunter Water's?

Hunter Water suggests a bucket test. Pour a bucket of water into the inspection shaft. If it drains away quickly, the main is likely clear and the blockage is in your pipes, so call us. If the shaft is already full or overflowing, the problem may be in the main: call Hunter Water on 1300 657 000, any time.

Why does my drain keep blocking in the same place?

Something in the pipe keeps catching waste: roots through a joint, a section that has sagged and holds water, or a joint that has shifted and left a lip. Clearing it gets the water moving. A CCTV inspection shows which of those it is and where, so a repair is aimed at that section.

Is jet blasting safe on older pipes?

On pipe in sound condition, yes. Where an old line may already be cracked or broken, a look with the camera first shows whether it needs a repair rather than more water.

Can I try drain cleaner first?

For a slow basin with hair or soap in the trap, a plunger or cleaning out the trap often does it. Chemical cleaners rarely shift roots, wipes or fat further down, and they leave caustic water sitting in the pipe for whoever opens it next.

How can I tell if I have a water leak?

Turn off every tap and appliance that uses water, then read your water meter. Read it again an hour or so later without using any water. If the numbers have moved, water is escaping somewhere between the meter and your taps, and leak testing narrows down where.

Do you clear blocked drains at night and on weekends?

Yes, we're open 24 hours, 7 days, weekends included. Call 0474 659 574.

Do you work on commercial drains?

Yes. We look after domestic and commercial clients, and commercial maintenance is on our list of services.

What should go down the toilet?

Hunter Water's short answer is pee, poo and toilet paper. Wet wipes, paper towel, sanitary products, cooking fat and food scraps are common causes of blockages, so they go in the bin.

Related plumbing

We clear drains in Maitland, Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Raymond Terrace, Tea Gardens, the Hunter Valley and surrounds.

  1. Your sewer service explained, Hunter Water.
  2. Sewer blockages, Hunter Water.
  3. Stop sewer problems before they start, Hunter Water.

Book a test, a service or a plumber

Ring any hour, any day, or send us the details and we will get back to you.

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Service area plan

Hunter ValleyMaitlandRaymond TerraceNewcastleLake MacquarieTea GardensThorntonWe are hereN10 km
  • We are here
  • Areas we service
  • 25 and 50 km from Thornton
Call: 0474 659 574

Hours: 24 hours, 7 days