BATHROOM — STEEP BLOCK
A downstairs bathroom below the sewer main, and the pump that made it possible.
01 — PROJECT OVERVIEW
Owners of a Como house falling steeply toward the Georges River wanted a bathroom and laundry on the lower level. Two builders had told them it couldn't be done because the floor sat well below the street sewer main.
02 — THE CHALLENGE
The proposed fixtures were roughly 1.8 metres below the connection point, so gravity drainage was impossible. A pump was the only route, and a badly specified one would fail in a location where a failure means sewage backing up into a brand-new bathroom.
03 — OUR APPROACH
1Surveyed levels precisely rather than relying on the builders' estimates, and confirmed the shortfall to the main.
2Specified a sewage pump system sized for the fixture load with adequate head for the lift, not the smallest unit that would technically work.
3Installed a high-level alarm and positioned the pump well for servicing access rather than burying it under the new slab.
4Commissioned and tested under full simultaneous load before the room was lined.
04 — THE OUTCOME
✓Bathroom and laundry built on the lower level as the owners originally wanted.
✓Pump well accessible for servicing without disturbing the finished room.
✓High-level alarm gives warning before any backup rather than after.
✓System documented so a future owner knows what's beneath the floor.