Reservoir filled up after the Second World War with weatherboard and cream-brick houses on wide blocks, each with a long back garden and often a lemon tree or a gum near the fence. Sewer drains from that era are vitrified clay with mortar joins. Seventy-odd years on, many of those joins have cracked, and the trees planted when the houses were new have had all that time to find them.
Since then, a lot of blocks have been subdivided, with one or two units built behind the original house. Sometimes the new units got their own PVC line; sometimes they were tied into the old clay drain, which now carries far more than it was laid for. Add reactive clay soil that shifts between dry and wet seasons, and a summer that opens up a join is often followed by a winter blockage.
Where Reservoir drains go wrong
Roots through cracked clay joins
Roots from fruit trees and gums enter at the mortar joins and fill the pipe, catching paper until the gully trap overflows. See tree root removal.
Units sharing an old line
When a back unit drains through the front house's original pipe, one blockage can affect both homes. See cctv drain inspection.
A collapsed section
An old clay pipe that has lost its shape can no longer be cleared or relined, so that length is dug out and replaced. See sewer repairs.
A toilet slow to flush
A toilet that rises before it empties often has roots further down the main line rather than a problem in the pan. See blocked toilets.
How a drain job runs in Reservoir
On a subdivided Reservoir block, the first task is often working out which drain belongs to which home. The locator traces each line from the surface, so the quote goes to the right owner. Yarra Valley Water manages the sewer mains; responsibility for the private pipe, from the house to the property connection point, usually sits with the owner, and if the footage shows the fault in the main, Yarra Valley Water is the one to call.
The crew covers Reservoir with Preston, Kingsbury, Bundoora and Thornbury, and the phones are covered 24/7.
