What's different about drains in Auckland
Watercare gets the first call
Watercare asks Aucklanders to contact it before a plumber about a blocked drain or overflow, on (09) 442 2222, option 1. When its online agent is offline, the phone line still takes reports.
Roots travel a long way
Watercare warns that tree roots can spread 1.5 times further than a tree's grown branches and break into pipes. Before planting, check where your drains run on Auckland Council's GeoMaps or Watercare's GIS map.
Wipes and fat make fatbergs
Wipes that don't break down snag on roots inside the pipes, then poured fat builds on them until the pipe blocks. Watercare's rule is toilet paper and human waste only, with fat scraped into the food scraps bin.
Shared pipes in older suburbs
Across most of the city, sewage and rainwater travel in separate pipes. In some older central areas, though, a single combined pipe carries both. In wet weather, the run-off from an average roof equals the wastewater of more than 40 households.
Sewage at the gully trap? In this order
Turn off the taps and appliances
No laundry, dishes, showers or flushing until it's sorted. Every litre has to go somewhere.
Spot where it's coming out
Watercare counts wastewater spilling from a gully trap, manhole, overflow point or pump station as an overflow. Spillage from a manhole is Watercare's, even on private land, and it aims to have a team there within the hour.
Ring Watercare
It checks the public side and tells you whether the cause is its pipe or your drain.
Book your drain specialist
If the problem is in your private drainage, Watercare says you need a plumber or drainlayer.
Gully traps, downpipes and inspections
Watercare wants the gully trap raised off the ground and covered by a grate, so rain and leaves can't wash into the sewer. Roof downpipes belong on the stormwater system, never the wastewater one, and its customer contract makes keeping stormwater out of the sewer your job.
To find where rain gets in, Watercare inspects and tests private drainage across the city with harmless smoke, a non-toxic dye or a camera down the pipe. It writes first and confirms a time before coming onto a property.
The national rules, applied here
PGDB's homeowner list lets you clear a blocked drain yourself, provided you leave the inspection and vent pipes alone. Undoing traps, opening the drain or fixing a cracked pipe is restricted work, so the person doing it must be authorised, usually with a current PGDB practising licence.
A like-for-like drain repair by an authorised person needs no building consent, though it still has to meet the Building Code. A brand-new connection to the public sewer is different: see our Auckland drainlayers page. For how machines and jetting clear a line, read the national blocked drains page.
Questions for an Auckland drain specialist
- Did Watercare rule out the public pipe before you came?
- What caused the blockage: roots, wipes, fat or a broken section?
- Is our gully trap high enough, and is any downpipe running into it?
- Can we keep the camera footage?
What we would do
Make the Watercare call before anything else, even late at night, because a public-side fault is its problem and it generally won't refund a private bill. Once it says the blockage is yours, get the line cleared and filmed. Roots or a sagging joint will block again, so plan the repair rather than paying for repeat clears. Then tell us the job, and we'll pass it to someone who clears and repairs Auckland drains.