Wastewater Pump Stations Christchurch

Before the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes, Christchurch's sewers were almost all gravity pipes. Since then the council has put in pressure and vacuum systems in parts of the city because they cope better with earthquakes, liquefaction and high groundwater. On a pressure system, each property has its own tank in the ground with a small pump that pushes wastewater into a shared pressure main. Other homes have a private pump station because the house sits below the sewer it drains to.

Either way, while the pump works nobody notices it. When it stops, the tank fills and the alarm goes off. Cheeky's Plumbers works out who owns your tank first, then fixes what is ours to fix, with certifying drainlayers on the drainage side and plumbers on the pipework.

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

Wastewater Pump Stations Jobs We Handle Across Christchurch

• Wastewater pump station repair
• Pump station alarm going off
• Grinder pump replacement
• Sewage pump station servicing
• Sump pump installation
• Float switch replacement

Signs your pump or tank needs attention

Pressure sewer tanks have an alarm box for a reason. Act quickly if you notice:

• The alarm light or buzzer on the control panel going off
• The pump running constantly, or starting and stopping every few minutes
• Humming with no water moving, or a grinding noise from the tank
• A sewage smell around the lid, vent or gully trap
• Toilets and showers draining slowly with no blockage found
• The pump's circuit breaker tripping when it tries to start

Pressure sewer tanks after the quakes

Christchurch City Council explains that each pressure sewer property has an on-site tank with a pump, connected by shallow polyethylene pipe to a pressure main. The pipes are flexible and sit close to the surface, which makes them more resilient to ground movement than deep gravity pipes. Some properties in the east of the city and in newer subdivisions are on this kind of system. Halswell, for example, has been described as using individual property pump stations.

A few areas, including Shirley, Aranui and Prestons, use a vacuum system instead, where several private gravity laterals drain to a collection chamber and a vacuum pump station draws the wastewater through the mains. If you are on a vacuum sewer and something goes wrong, the council asks you to call it first. If the vacuum system is working, a drainlayer then checks your private lateral.

How It Works

Who owns your tank in Christchurch

Ownership is not the same on every street, so this is the first thing we check. Under the council's ownership guidance, the lateral from your house to the tank belongs to you, and you supply the electricity that runs the pump. Pressure tanks installed by SCIRT between 2011 and 2017, and those in certain subdivisions, are owned and maintained by the council and have remote alarm panels. If your tank is one of those, the council should be your first call when it alarms.

Other tanks, pipes and control panels are privately owned, and the council says owners call a drainlayer for those. The same goes for a private pump station that lifts wastewater up to a gravity sewer: everything on your side is yours to maintain. In Waimakariri, the district council says it reimburses private plumber or drainlayer costs caused by a fault in council-owned wastewater pipes, which is worth knowing in Kaiapoi and Rangiora.

What usually goes wrong

Float and level switches are a common failure. They tell the pump when to start and stop, and once they stick or get coated in fat, the pump either never starts or never stops. Rags are next: wet wipes, sanitary products and paper towels wrap around the impeller and stall the motor. Non-return valves can fail and let the line drain back into the tank, and cables and control boxes corrode over time.

A pump that works much harder than it should can mean stormwater or groundwater is getting into the tank or the lateral. Christchurch's east has high groundwater, and any downpipe or yard drain running into the wastewater line adds load the pump was never sized for. That water belongs in the stormwater drains, and we can trace where it is coming in.

Power cuts and sump pumps

In a power cut the pump stops. The council says pressure sewer tanks have spare storage for several days in a long outage if the household uses water carefully, so keep showers short, hold off on laundry and the dishwasher, and flush only when you need to. If the alarm sounds once the power is back, check the breaker and call us if it does not clear.

Not every pump handles sewage. Sump pumps lift stormwater and groundwater out of basements, sunken courtyards and driveways that fall towards a garage. They must discharge to stormwater, never to a gully trap or the sewer. We size sump pumps to the catchment, fit a float, and add an alarm where the pump protects a living space.

Servicing, repair and cost

A service on a privately owned tank or pump station covers lifting and hosing the pump, clearing rag from the impeller, testing the floats and alarm, checking the non-return and isolation valves, inspecting cables and the control panel, and looking for cracks and fat build-up in the tank. Once a year suits most homes; flats and home businesses may need more.

Every system is different, so we quote for free. The price depends on the pump type, whether the tank needs pumping out first, access to the lid, the state of the floats, valves and controls, and whether repair or replacement makes more sense. You get the fixed price before work starts, and new installations or relocations are assessed with drainlaying and consent in mind.

Why Choose Cheeky's Plumbers for Wastewater Pump Stations

Wastewater Pump Stations FAQs

Wastewater Pump Stations Across Christchurch

Our wastewater pump stations team works in every Christchurch suburb. Find your local plumbers:

Wastewater Pump Stations Guides

• Pressure Sewer Pump Alarm Going Off? What to Do in Christchurch

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