Council just closed a portion of Mary Place between Charles Street and Charles Walk Drainage Reserve — that's $765,000 worth of road closure to facilitate the development at 110-120 Unley Road, and any time you're digging up road near a drainage reserve, you're disturbing connections that've been sitting undisturbed for decades. The King William Road Streetscape Upgrade is still running through to July, with road surfaces and kerbs being renewed between Greenhill Road and the Mike Turtur Bikeway — that's months of ground disturbance on a strip where the water mains were already relocated once for previous works. May's brought 29mm of rain across two events in the first week, and on Hindmarsh Clay that water's not going anywhere fast. The older homes around Unley Oval and down towards Goodwood Road are sitting on saturated ground with clay sewer lines that flex and crack when the soil moves. If you're noticing slow drains, gurgling toilets, or damp patches in the yard after this rain, don't wait for it to get worse. Call us and a plumber we dispatch will know exactly what they're walking into.
City of Unley notes
“Pursuant to the Roads Opening and Closing Act 1991, the portion of Mary Place, Unley between Charles Street and Charles Walk Drainage Reserve be closed as a public road, with the cost met by the owner of 110-120 Unley Road (Resolution C0037/26)”
City of Unley
Road closure adjacent to a drainage reserve means excavation near existing stormwater infrastructure — properties on Charles Street and nearby may see drainage disturbance or discover their connections were relying on that reserve's capacity.
“City Infrastructure Projects Status Update 2025/26 FY (March Quarter) received — Resolution C0038/26”
City of Unley
The King William Road Streetscape Upgrade continues through July 2026 with kerb and road renewal — ongoing ground disturbance increases risk of service connection damage for properties along that corridor.
“Draft 2026-27 Annual Business Plan includes proposed Capital Renewal Program requiring net funding of $13.18M for infrastructure renewal”
City of Unley
Significant capital renewal spend signals more roadworks and underground infrastructure replacement coming — older suburbs like Unley will see more disturbance to aging pipe networks as council upgrades proceed.
●Source: City of UnleyLast updated April 2026
Unley profile
The City of Unley has infrastructure planning underway along Greenhill Road — the southern edge of the suburb — with investigations into walking and cycling upgrades that'll likely mean ground works at some point. For Unley residents, that's worth knowing. This is a suburb of older homes — plenty of inter-war and post-war stock with clay and cast-iron pipes still in the ground — and any kerb-to-kerb digging near ageing mains or street junctions puts pressure on what's already running close to the end of its life.
The streets around Unley Oval — think Rugby Street, Trimmer Terrace, Oxford Terrace — are where we see the most sewer failures. The combination of mature street trees, pre-war housing with original clay pipes, and low-lying ground that holds water creates perfect conditions for root intrusion and joint separation. Over towards King William Road, the housing stock shifts slightly newer but the galvanised supply lines are still original in most cases, and they're showing their age with pressure drops and discoloured water. The homes backing onto the Charles Walk Drainage Reserve have always had marginal stormwater capacity — the Mary Place closure and associated development will test that further.
When calls come in: Unley calls tend to cluster in the early evening — 5pm to 8pm — when people get home from work and discover the problem that's been building all day. Weekend mornings are also busy, especially after rain events when blocked stormwater becomes obvious.
Unley emergency callouts
Emergency Plumber — Burst pipe — water off, flooding riskUnley, SA · 30–60 min
Emergency Plumber — Blocked drain — slow or backing upUnley, SA · 30–60 min
Emergency Plumber — Hot water failure — no heat or pressureUnley, SA · 30–60 min
Emergency Plumber — Sewer backup — sewage at floor wasteUnley, SA · 30–60 min
Emergency Plumber — Leaking tap or fitting — urgent repairUnley, SA · 30–60 min
Emergency Plumber — Gas fitting emergency — isolation requiredUnley, SA · 30–60 min
Unley Plumber FAQ
The streetscape upgrade between Greenhill Road and the Mike Turtur Bikeway involves kerb and road surface renewal, which means ground disturbance near existing service connections. If your property connects to mains along that stretch, you might notice temporary pressure drops during work hours or sediment in your water after they've been working nearby. The bigger risk is vibration and soil movement disturbing older clay or cast iron connections on your side of the meter — if you notice new leaks or slow drains during the works, get it checked before a small crack becomes a collapse.
Slow drains after rain in Unley usually mean one of two things: either your stormwater system is overwhelmed and backing up, or groundwater saturation has shifted the clay soil enough to partially collapse or misalign a sewer joint. If it's just the outside drains running slow, that's likely stormwater capacity. If your internal drains — sinks, showers, toilets — are also sluggish or gurgling, that's sewer-side and needs a camera inspection. The Hindmarsh Clay under Unley holds water for days after rain, so the problem won't fix itself by drying out.
Galvanised steel pipes corrode from the inside, so you won't see rust on the outside until they're nearly gone. The signs are: brown or orange-tinged water when you first turn on a tap, reduced flow at fixtures furthest from the meter, pinhole leaks appearing at fittings or bends, and water pressure that drops noticeably when multiple taps run. In Unley's pre-1960 homes, if you've still got original galvanised supply lines, they're past their design life. A plumber we dispatch can pressure-test the line and tell you how much longer you've realistically got.
A 1950s Unley home typically has earthenware (clay) sewer pipes, galvanised steel water supply lines, and possibly original cast iron internal waste pipes. The sewer lines fail first — root intrusion at joints, then cracking, then collapse. The galvanised supply lines corrode internally and restrict flow before eventually leaking. Cast iron waste pipes under the floor can rust through from the outside where they sit in damp soil. Hot water systems from that era have been replaced at least once, but if you've got a storage tank over 12 years old, it's on borrowed time. Budget for sewer relining or replacement first, then supply line upgrade.
A blocked sewer clears with a jet or electric eel and stays clear for a while — weeks or months. A collapsed sewer clears temporarily but blocks again within days, or the jet hits a point where it can't push through at all. The only way to know for certain is a CCTV drain camera inspection. A plumber we dispatch will run the camera through after clearing the blockage and show you exactly what's happening — root mass, joint displacement, cracked pipe, or full collapse. In Unley's clay soil, a partial collapse can sit stable for years until one heavy rain event shifts the ground and finishes the job.
Your hot water system has to work harder in winter because the incoming water is colder — around 12°C instead of 20°C in summer — so it takes more energy to heat and the tank recovers slower after a big draw. If your system is undersized for your household or the element is scaled up from Adelaide's hard water, you'll notice it most in the colder months. In Unley's older homes, original hot water systems were often sized for smaller families and shorter showers. A plumber we dispatch can check the element condition, thermostat setting, and tank capacity to tell you whether it's a service issue or time for an upgrade.