Stormwater Drains Wellington

Stormwater drains carry rain off your roof, driveway and paths and away from the house, either into the public stormwater network, out to the kerb, or to a soakage system on site. When they block or break, you usually find out in a downpour: water spilling from the top of a downpipe, a sump that stays full, or a puddle creeping towards the cladding.

In Wellington the stakes are higher than in a lot of places. NIWA's climate normals put Wellington Airport at about 957 mm of rain a year, Lower Hutt at around 1,200 mm and the Wainuiomata reservoir at about 1,800 mm, with winter the wettest season. On a hillside section, water from a broken stormwater pipe does not just make a puddle; it soaks into a bank. We clear, repair and upgrade private stormwater systems from Brooklyn and Ngaio to Stokes Valley, Titahi Bay and Paraparaumu.

Pricing: quotes are free, and every job gets a fixed price before we start, so there are no surprises on the invoice.

Stormwater Drains Jobs We Handle Across Wellington

• Stormwater drain clearing
• Stormwater and drainage repairs
• Sump and cesspit cleaning
• Soakhole repairs
• Channel drains
• Flooding and ponding fixes

Signs your stormwater system is struggling

Stormwater faults show up in wet weather. Look out for: New stormwater lines, soak pits and connections for extensions are laid by our drainlaying team.

• Downpipes overflowing at the joint or spilling from the top in heavy rain
• Sumps and grates that hold water long after the rain stops
• Water ponding against the house, garage or a retaining wall
• A damp subfloor or water in the basement after a storm
• Scouring or a wet, soft patch where a pipe discharges on a slope
• A soakage pit that overflows in only moderate rain

Hillsides, slips and where the water goes

July 2022 was Wellington's wettest July on record, and around 670 slips were recorded between 1 July and 22 August that year. GeoNet linked those slips to saturated soil and to older ground that had been cut and filled decades ago. Wellington City Council's guidance is that slips on private land are the landowner's responsibility.

We cannot promise a stormwater fix will stop a slip, but water pouring out of a cracked pipe or a disconnected downpipe onto a bank is something you can control. We trace where every downpipe and sump on the section ends up, repair broken lines, and pipe the water to a proper outlet rather than letting it soak into a cut slope or the fill behind a retaining wall.

How It Works

Common stormwater problems we find

Leaves, moss and roof grit wash into downpipes and settle in the first bend or in a sump that has not been cleaned. Strong winds add their share of leaves and twigs to the mix. Silt from gardens and gravel drives builds up in pipes on sloping sections. Roots find their way into stormwater lines just as easily as sewers, and older earthenware pipes crack with age and ground movement.

Cracked lines under a driveway or path can often be fixed with no-dig pipe relining instead of digging up the concrete. Plenty of homes also have paving, decks and extensions have been added over the years without anyone upsizing the drainage to cope.

Downpipes in the wastewater: cross connections

Roof water belongs in the stormwater system, not the sewer. Tiaki Wai's guidance is clear that downpipes must connect to stormwater, and if a downpipe is feeding a gully trap it needs redirecting. We still find plenty of them, usually from old DIY work or an extension, along with yard sumps tied into the wastewater line.

Master Plumbers notes that stormwater getting into the wastewater network can push volumes at treatment plants up to five times dry-weather levels, which is part of why sewers overflow in heavy rain. If we find a cross connection during a job, we tell you and quote to move it to the right pipe. It is a straightforward fix, and it also stops a gully trap overflowing every time it pours.

Who looks after which pipes

Public stormwater pipes in Wellington City, the Hutt Valley and Porirua are run by Tiaki Wai, and faults in them are fixed through its renewals programme. Private drains on your property are the owner's job, and the detail depends on where you live because each council's rules differ slightly. Upper Hutt, for example, makes stormwater laterals the owner's responsibility all the way down to the point of discharge. An easement pipe that crosses your land but does not serve your home is not yours to fix.

On the Kāpiti Coast, Kāpiti Coast District Council runs stormwater itself. Wherever you are, if we find a fault on the public side, we give you the location and footage to pass on.

What stormwater work costs

Heavily silted lines may need hydro jetting, and where a line keeps blocking or looks broken we recommend a CCTV drain inspection before anyone digs.

Repairs, cross connection fixes, new outlets and system upgrades are quoted free once we have seen the site. Larger work, or a new connection to the public network, may need building consent and sign-off from your council or Tiaki Wai, and we arrange that with you.

Why Choose Cheeky's Plumbers for Stormwater Drains

Stormwater Drains FAQs

Stormwater Drains Across Wellington

Our stormwater drains team works in every Wellington suburb. Find your local plumbers:

Stormwater Drains Guides

• Stormwater on a Steep Wellington Section: Downpipes, Retaining Walls and Slips

Related Services

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