Can tree roots from the street cause a sewer blockage on my property?

Yes. Roots find their way into cracked joints in older clay pipes, wherever the tree stands. A camera inspection shows where the roots entered, which helps when you talk to East Gippsland Water about whether the fault is in your drain or near the connection point.

How often should a septic tank be pumped out?

It depends on the tank size, the number of people in the house and the type of system. Your Permit to Use and the system's service schedule set out what is expected, and a treatment system usually has its own service interval. A plumber or septic service provider can check the sludge level and tell you how close it is to full.

Is it safe to use the toilet once the drain has been cleared?

Usually yes, once the plumber has cleared it and run water through the line to confirm it is flowing. Ask them to confirm the cause, because a drain cleared without fixing a broken pipe or a full septic tank can block again quickly.

Does house insurance cover a sewage overflow?

It depends on your policy. Some policies cover damage caused by a sudden overflow but not the cost of fixing the pipe or wear and tear. Call your insurer early, keep photos and the plumber's report, and ask before you pay for cleaning or repairs you expect to claim.

What does an overflow relief gully do?

On a sewered house the overflow relief gully is the grated outlet in the yard near the house. It is set lower than the floor drains inside, so if the drain blocks, sewage spills outside rather than into the bathroom. Keep it clear of garden beds and paving.

Sewer or septic blockage: who fixes it, Bairnsdale

Who fixes a sewage blockage depends first on whether the house is connected to East Gippsland Water’s sewer or runs its own septic system. On a sewered property, the general rule in Victoria is that the water corporation looks after its mains up to the point of connection and the owner looks after the pipes on the property, so check with East Gippsland Water before assuming either way. On a septic property there is no corporation involved: the tank, the pipes and the dispersal area are the owner’s to maintain.

This guide covers the first minutes of a sewage problem and how to work out whose problem it is. Bairnsdale Plumber does not attend jobs; your enquiry goes to an independent licensed plumber who assesses it and quotes, as the about page explains.

What should you do in the first few minutes?

Sewage is a health risk, so deal with safety before blame.

Stop using water. No flushing, showers, washing machine or dishwasher. Every litre you send down adds to the overflow.
Keep people and pets away from any overflowing gully, toilet or septic lid. Children in particular.
Do not open the septic tank yourself or climb into a pit. Gases build up in tanks and confined spaces.
Take photos of where it is overflowing, the gully or inspection opening, and any wet patch in the yard. A plumber can tell a lot from them.
Note what happened before it started. Heavy rain, a full load of washing, or a slow drain for weeks beforehand are all useful clues.
Look over the fence. If neighbours have the same problem at the same time, that points to a shared or corporation main rather than your own pipe.

If you can see that the overflow is coming from a public manhole or the street rather than your property, contact East Gippsland Water through its website before calling a plumber.

Are you on sewer or septic?

Many people in town know straight away. Owners of older homes, holiday houses or blocks on the edge of town sometimes do not, and it changes everything about the job.

Clue	Points to sewer	Points to septic
Your water bill	Sewerage or wastewater charges from East Gippsland Water	No wastewater charges
The yard	An inspection opening or overflow gully near the house, no tank	A tank lid, or several lids for a treatment system, plus a dispersal trench or irrigation area
Council records	Nothing on file for an onsite system	A septic permit on the property file
Paperwork from purchase	Sewer connection shown on the property plan	Permit to Use or service reports for a system

East Gippsland Shire Council keeps septic tank plans and offers a search of them for a fee, listed on its residential septic tanks page. If you are still unsure, ask East Gippsland Water whether your address is connected. This site does not say which towns or streets are sewered, because coverage can change street by street.

Who looks after the pipes on a sewered property?

On its about us page, East Gippsland Water lists wastewater collection, treatment and recycling among its services. Its district starts at Lindenow in the west and reaches Mallacoota near the New South Wales border, and it runs eleven water recycling systems for 20 of the communities it supplies.

The usual split is:

The corporation maintains its sewer mains and the connection point.
The property owner maintains the house drain from the fixtures to that connection point, including pipes under the yard and driveway.

Where exactly that boundary sits on your block, and who pays when roots from a street tree or a fault at the junction cause the blockage, are questions for East Gippsland Water. Ask before work starts if you think the fault may be on the corporation’s side. A plumber clearing the drain can often tell you where the blockage was, and a camera inspection can show it on screen. The drain camera and relining page covers that step.

How do the symptoms differ between sewer and septic?

Symptom	On sewer, often means	On septic, often means
One fixture slow, others fine	A blockage in that fixture’s branch line	Same; a local blockage inside the house
Every fixture slow or gurgling	A blockage in the main house drain	A full tank, a blocked outlet or a failing dispersal area
Overflow at the gully outside	Blockage between the house and the sewer connection	Tank or outlet blocked, sending water back up
Problem worse after heavy rain	Groundwater or stormwater getting into the sewer drain	Saturated soil in the dispersal area that cannot take more water
Smell in the yard, no overflow	A cracked pipe or open inspection cap	Surface effluent from the dispersal area
Neighbours affected too	A shared or corporation main	Unusual; each septic system is separate

For a blockage you need cleared now, the blocked drains page explains machine clearing and jetting.

What is different about a septic blockage?

On an unsewered block the whole system belongs to the property. A septic tank settles solids and passes liquid to a trench or bed in the soil; an aerated wastewater treatment system uses pumps and blowers to treat the water further before it is irrigated. Either can back up into the house when:

the tank has not been pumped out and solids have reached the outlet
the outlet pipe or filter is blocked
the dispersal trench or irrigation area is saturated or has failed
a pump, float switch or alarm on a treatment system has stopped working

Any new septic or treatment system, or a change to an existing one, needs the shire’s approval first for household-sized systems (council handles those up to 5,000 litres of wastewater daily), and EPA Victoria’s guidelines for onsite wastewater management (publication 5001) set out how these systems should be designed, maintained and fixed when they fail. If the fix involves altering the system, not just clearing or pumping it, expect council approval to be part of the job.

The septic systems page covers servicing and the permit path. If your house is in Bairnsdale itself, the Bairnsdale area page covers local conditions.

When should you contact East Gippsland Water first?

Sewage is coming out of a manhole in the street or a neighbour’s yard.
Several houses in the street have the problem at once.
The overflow is at or beyond your boundary, not near the house.
You suspect a corporation asset was damaged, for example after works in the street.

Otherwise, a plumber is usually the first call for a sewered house, because most blockages are in the property drain.

What if you disagree with the water corporation?

If you cannot sort out a dispute with East Gippsland Water directly, for example over who is responsible for a sewer blockage, the Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria resolves complaints about electricity, gas and water companies. EWOV says it is free for Victorian consumers and expects you to try to resolve the complaint with your company first. Keep your photos, the plumber’s report and any camera footage, since they are the evidence for where the fault was.

A complaint about a plumber’s work is a different path and does not go to EWOV. Start with the plumber, and see the checklist for hiring a plumber for the licence and certificate records to keep.

What should you tell the plumber?

Before the plumber arrives, give them enough to bring the right gear. Describe the overflow in your enquiry with the details below.

sewer or septic, and if septic, whether it is a plain tank or a treatment system
which fixtures are affected and where it is overflowing
whether it got worse after rain
when the septic tank was last pumped out, if you know
where the inspection openings or tank lids are, and whether they are buried
whether neighbours have the same problem

Next step: get the blockage looked at

Use the form to send a sewer or septic blockage enquiry. Say whether the house is on town sewer or its own system, list the fixtures affected, attach photos of the overflow point and any tank lids or gully, and note your town and street. If East Gippsland Water has already inspected and said the fault is on your side, mention that too.

Send a job enquiry

Sewer or septic blockage: who is responsible in East Gippsland?