Ripponlea
Blocked, burst or leaking in Ripponlea?
Blocked drains, burst pipes and leaks in Ripponlea, from the old Sargood estate to the streets east of the railway, passed to a licensed plumber day and night.
Plumbing in Ripponlea
Two generations of pipe on neighbouring lots
Residential building here occurred in the 1880s and 1890s, though the Sargood estate held much of the area. Homes of that age likely still carry earthenware drains and old cast iron or galvanised pipe, and brittle joints make a camera the sensible first step.
East of the railway, houses and flats were mostly developed from around the First World War. Two neighbouring properties can sit on quite different generations of drain and water pipe, so the age of each line is worked out before a repair is chosen.
Jobs in Ripponlea
Sandy trenches and mixed eras
Blocked drains
Silted soakage pits and clay sewer lines in sandy ground.
CCTV drain inspection
A camera to tell a Victorian earthenware run from a later one before quoting.
Pipe relining
A lining under a flat building, where a trench in sand would disturb several lots.
What it costs: hot water replacement cost, gutter replacement cost, toilet installation cost
Ripponlea questions
Units, sand and the Elster Creek catchment
Who decides on a repair to a shared pipe in flats?
Victorian Places records that flats and units were 59% of Ripponlea’s occupied dwellings, so many faults sit on a shared pipe. The section's owner is found first, and an owners corporation usually signs off before the job is quoted.
Why does a trench need support in this ground?
Victorian Places notes that much of the land is sandy. Sand drains well but slumps into an open trench, so a dig is shored as it goes, and a soakage pit is never assumed to stay free of silt.
Is the suburb part of a flood catchment?
Yes. Port Phillip says the Elster Creek Catchment includes areas of Elwood, St Kilda and Ripponlea, and that it has flooded widely before. When a property drain backs up in a storm, the plumber looks at where the property may discharge and which way water runs across the ground before blaming the pipe.
