Blocked Sewer Bendigo.

Most properties have two separate drainage systems underground. The sewer carries wastewater from toilets, showers, basins, the kitchen sink and the laundry. The stormwater system deals with rain from your roof, driveway and yard.

On most residential blocks, the waste pipes from each room join together under the house or just outside it, then run as a single line to the connection point. Many sewer blockages form in that shared line, which is why a problem there affects the whole building rather than one sink.

Sewer and stormwater are meant to stay apart. Stormwater must not be connected to the sewer, because a downpour would send a flood of rainwater into pipes designed for household waste. When your sewer is blocked, the symptoms show up inside and right around the house rather than in gutters or garden pits. If rainwater is your problem, head to our page on blocked stormwater drains.

Because every fixture in a building drains into the same sewer line, a blockage there tends to show up in more than one place at a time. Look out for:

• The shower or floor waste filling with water when a toilet is flushed
• Gurgling from the basin or bath when the washing machine empties
• Toilets in different rooms all slow to clear at once
• The overflow relief gully outside lifting its grate or spilling wastewater
• A sewage smell in the yard, particularly around the gully, inspection openings or along the pipe route

The overflow relief gully, or ORG, is the grated fitting usually set into the ground near the laundry or bathroom. It is there to let sewage overflow outside instead of inside the home. If it is lifting or overflowing, treat it as a clear sign the line further downstream is blocked.

Around Bendigo, Castlemaine, Kyneton and surrounding towns, the public sewer mains are generally the responsibility of Coliban Water. Property owners are generally responsible for the private sewer pipes on their property, up to the connection with Coliban Water's sewer main.

Many household blockages sit within that private section, where roots, wipes and grease have the most opportunity to cause trouble. If our inspection shows the problem is in the main rather than your pipes, we will tell you so you can raise it with Coliban Water. Arrangements can differ from one property to the next, so if you are unsure where your responsibility ends, it is worth checking with Coliban Water directly.

Raw sewage can carry bacteria, viruses and parasites, so an overflow is a hygiene problem as well as a plumbing one. The risk is greatest for young children, older relatives and anyone whose immune system is not at full strength.

Wastewater that soaks into carpet, plasterboard or timber floors can leave lingering odours and contamination, and an outdoor overflow can pool where kids and pets play. Wear gloves when handling anything sewage has touched, wash your hands thoroughly afterwards and keep the affected area off limits. A blocked sewer rarely clears on its own, so getting the line jetted promptly limits how much wastewater ends up where it should not be.

Jetting restores flow, but on its own it does not tell you why the line blocked. That is where a drain camera earns its place. Once the sewer is running, we pass the camera along the pipe to look for the underlying cause, such as roots at a joint, a cracked section or a dip where waste settles.

If roots are to blame, the camera also shows how many joints are affected and how far along the line they reach, which helps you weigh up regular clearing against a more permanent fix.

Seeing inside the pipe lets you make an informed decision. A one-off blockage from wipes may need nothing more than a change of habits, while root intrusion or a broken pipe may call for further work. Learn more about our CCTV drain inspections, or request a booking for a blocked sewer in Bendigo, Epsom, Maiden Gully or anywhere nearby.