Green plumbing, explained from the pipes up
How the water in your walls actually behaves, where it quietly wastes thousands of litres. Every figure cited, every severity called honestly, and a desk that takes your questions.
What is your plumbing telling you?
Plumbing announces its problems: a gurgle, a drip, a bang in the wall, a patch that will not dry. Pick what you are seeing and we will show you the mechanism behind it, an honest read on how urgent it is, and what ignoring it costs in real litres.
The interactive desk needs JavaScript, but the enquiry desk does not: describe what you are seeing and we will point you in the right direction.
The desk teaches mechanisms; it cannot diagnose your house sight unseen. Whenever a symptom points at pressurised, gas or drainage work, the honest answer is a licensed plumber, and the desk says so.
Seven guides, kept like living documents
Each guide is the long answer for its territory: the mechanisms, the decision points, what is safe to do yourself, and where the licensed line sits. Dated, cited and revised as the facts move.
Sustainable plumbing
The whole-house view: where household water actually goes, and the order to fix things in.
Read the guide Guide No. IIBlocked drains
What is actually happening under your yard, what is safe to try, and when to stop plunging.
Read the guide Guide No. IIIBroken & burst pipes
Why pipes fail at the joints, what temperature does to them, and the first five minutes after a burst.
Read the guide Guide No. IVLeaking taps
The 12,000-litre drip: washers, seats and ceramic discs, and the repair that actually lasts.
Read the guide Guide No. VInstallation
Choosing fixtures and systems: WELS stars, the standards behind "compliant", and what to ask an installer.
Read the guide Guide No. VICommercial plumbing
Grease traps, backflow prevention and trade waste: what commercial sites answer for that houses never do.
Read the guide Guide No. VIIIndustrial plumbing
Process water, corrosion and treatment at industrial scale, where plumbing becomes infrastructure.
Read the guideWhat waste looks like, measured
What a tap leaking one drip per second wastes in a year. A washer costs a couple of dollars.
What a visibly leaking toilet with a constant hiss wastes in a year. The dye test that finds it takes 15 minutes.
What an inefficient shower head pushes through, against as little as a third of that for an efficient WELS-rated one.
Source: YourHome, the Australian Government's guide to sustainable homes. Figures are national guidance, not a quote.
Recent studies
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Solar hot water
Solar Hot Water Systems: Are They Worth the Investment?
Sun-heated water: when the sums work, and when they do not.
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Water conservation
Tips for Reducing Water Usage at Home
Where a household's water actually goes, and the order to fix it in.
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Leaks
Addressing Common Plumbing Leaks for Water Conservation
Finding the leaks you cannot hear: meter tests and damp maps.
Who actually does the work
We explain; a licensed plumber does. Plumbing and drainage work in Australia must be carried out by a licensed plumber, and that line is the spine of every guide on this site: it tells you exactly where your part of the job ends.
If you are reading from Newcastle or the Hunter, Green Planet Plumbing is a licensed local crew whose work sits close to this publication's heart: drains, leaks and water-wise repairs. Anywhere else in the country, your state's licensing register is the right place to check any plumber's ticket before they start.
And if you are not sure what kind of help you need yet, that is exactly what the enquiry desk is for.
Tell us what your plumbing is doing
Describe the symptom, the fixture and how long it has been going on. We read every enquiry and reply with guidance and a sensible next step. Anything that needs tools is a licensed plumber's job, and we will say so plainly.