Plumber Karragullen

Karragullen WA 6111, City of Armadale. About 30 km south-east of the Perth CBD.

Karragullen sits roughly thirty kilometres south-east of the Perth CBD in the City of Armadale, high on the Darling Range and bordering the Canning Dam catchment. It is predominantly orchard country, with fruit growing properties that have been worked by the same families for generations. For a plumber that means bores, dams, pumps and irrigation mains alongside the household plumbing, septic systems rather than sewer, and rocky hill ground under every trench.

• Water as a production inputOn a Karragullen orchard the pumps, mains and filters that carry irrigation water are as important as anything in the house. A failed pump in January is a crop problem, so these systems are worth servicing before the season rather than repairing during it.
• Hard bore water on almost every propertyBore supply here carries minerals that scale up solenoids, filters, tapware and hot water elements. Treating the water is consistently cheaper than replacing the components it is steadily wearing out.
• Septic systems on large holdingsThere is no sewer here, so properties run septic tanks and leach drains. On orchard ground with rock close to the surface the drains are harder to site and less tolerant of neglect, and a surfaced drain is a far bigger job than a scheduled pump-out.
• Catchment ground and what can be dischargedKarragullen borders the Canning Dam catchment, and what a property does with waste water matters more here than it does on the plain. Getting the septic design and the discharge right is part of the job, not an afterthought.