Park Orchards Sewerage Project
We expect construction to begin in mid to late 2025. The project will be delivered in 4 stages and will take 5 years to complete.
Properties in Park Orchards will have either a gravity or pressure sewer connection point installed at no cost. The type of connection is selected based on many factors specific to your property. Our engineers, planners, and project managers visit each property to assess what will work best for the property and the overall sewerage system. They gather this information during site walks, and the details are checked and used in modelling for the whole sewerage network. In most cases, we can’t change the type of system you have been allocated.
Gravity sewer systems rely on gradually sloping pipes that allow the sewage to flow naturally downhill, away from your property and into the pipes in the street.
Pressure sewer systems feature a small pumping unit on each property which pumps the household sewage to the pressure sewer located in the street.
Sometimes, adjacent neighbours can have a different system to each other, and this is due to changes in the landscape. This happens especially in areas with large properties.
Video showing types of sewerage systems
Map showing the Park Orchards project construction area
View a PDF version of the Park Orchards project investigation area map
Will I receive a sewerage service?
These investigations will inform who we can provide a sewerage service to. The design process determines the feasibility of where we can install pipes, and considers many factors including topography, ecological impact, hydraulics and distance to existing infrastructure.
We’ll be in touch directly with property owners who will be receiving a sewerage service with more information as it becomes available.
What are the costs?
There is no cost to you for the construction of the sewerage system in Park Orchards or for providing a connection point from your property. If you wish to connect, property owners will be responsible for the connection costs to the sewer. For more information on the costs please see our What are the costs page.
When will the sewerage service be available?
The new sewerage system for the Park Orchards area will be designed and built in stages over approximately 5 years. We expect construction to start in 2025.
Why are we building a new sewerage system?
Many properties with outdated septic systems in Park Orchards send greywater straight into street gutters that flow into local creeks and the Yarra River. Failing systems can also leak untreated wastewater that ends up in neighbouring yards and waterways.
The ‘split system’: the most common polluter
Many properties in Park Orchards have this old type of septic system. Only toilet wastewater goes to the septic tank. Other wastewater from the kitchen, shower and laundry flows through a separate pipe directly to the gutter and into our stormwater system. This untreated greywater ends up in local waterways.
Contact us
If you have any questions or feedback about this project, please contact the Community Sewerage Program team on 9872 2551 or email [email protected].
Project Updates
January 2025
The design of the Park Orchards Community Sewerage area is progressing well, and we expect to begin construction of the first of 4 stages in mid to late 2025. The project will be delivered in stages and will take 5 years to complete. We’ll be in contact with you when we are close to starting construction works in your area.
In the meantime you’ll continue to see our team conducting site investigations across Park Orchards. This includes:
- General surveying and assessments.
- Locating existing power, gas, water and telecommunications infrastructure.
- Geotechnical investigations.
- Aboriginal cultural heritage investigation.
- Ecological and tree surveying.
If you have any questions, please contact our team on 9872 2551 or [email protected]