Plumber Ashfield

Ashfield WA 6054, Town of Bassendean. About 9 km north-east of the Perth CBD.

Ashfield is a riverside suburb about nine kilometres north-east of the Perth CBD in the Town of Bassendean, containing Ashfield Flats, the largest remaining river flat in metropolitan Perth. The housing began as railway cottages, with around 400 State Housing Commission homes built in the late 1950s and early 1960s and a further redevelopment in the late 1990s. That redevelopment ran alongside the infill sewerage programme, which converted properties here from septic tanks and leach drains to mains sewer, and the legacy of that conversion still turns up in the ground.

• Converted from septic to mains sewerThe infill sewerage programme brought Ashfield properties onto mains sewer in the late 1990s. Disused septic tanks were frequently left in the ground rather than removed, and they show up when someone excavates for a pool, an extension or new drainage. We locate before digging here for exactly that reason.
• Ashfield Flats and low-lying river groundThe suburb holds the largest river flat left in metropolitan Perth, and the low ground near it carries a high water table. Soakage there performs poorly through winter and drainage has limited fall to work with, so stormwater has to be designed for the conditions rather than to a standard detail.
• Housing from the late 1950s and early 1960sAround 400 State Housing Commission homes went up here in a few years, so their original supply pipe and sewer connections are of an age and failing together. The same faults repeat street to street, which usually tells us what we are looking for before we arrive.
• A significant share of rental housingA notable proportion of Ashfield homes are rented, so a leaking tap or blocked drain generally has to be quoted in writing and approved by an agent or owner before the repair proceeds. We provide that rather than leaving a tenant to relay messages, which is what stops a small leak running for months.