Plumber Bicton

Bicton WA 6157, City of Melville. About 10 km south-west of the Perth CBD.

Bicton is a riverside suburb about ten kilometres south-west of the Perth CBD in the City of Melville, with the Class-A reserve at Point Walter occupying its northern third. It was subdivided from a racecourse from 1919 and expanded again after the Second World War, and it is now one of the most heavily rebuilt riverside suburbs in Perth. For a plumber that means century-old drainage on some blocks, new large homes on others, and a sharp divide between the hill and the foreshore.

• The hill and the foreshore behave differentlyOn the Castle Hill side the sandy ground drains freely and soak wells work properly. Down on the river flats groundwater sits close to the surface and they do not. The same drainage design is right on one Bicton block and wrong two streets away.
• Rebuilds on century-old lotsA new Bicton house usually carries several times the fixtures of the one it replaced while connecting into the same water main. Sizing that service before the build avoids pressure problems that cost a great deal more to resolve afterwards.
• Slope down toward Point WalterGround falling toward the river means a leak or a failed drain surfaces well below where it started. Locating the source properly is the difference between one excavation and several down a terraced garden.
• Housing that spans a hundred yearsBicton holds 1920s houses, post-war homes and brand-new builds on the same streets. Original drainage under the oldest is genuinely near the end of its life, so the honest answer here depends entirely on the address.