None of this is an emergency, but a running cistern quietly costs more than most people would guess.
No obligation. Takes 30 seconds.
Emergency Plumber Geelong connects Geelong and the Geelong and Bellarine region property owners with qualified, connects Geelong and Bellarine property owners with licensed local plumbers for taps & cisterns. Tell us what's happening and whether water is still running, and we'll match it to a licensed plumber covering your suburb. Firm price before work starts.
A steadily dripping tap wastes a meaningful volume over a year. A cistern with a failed inlet or outlet valve that runs continuously wastes considerably more than that, and it's often silent enough that nobody notices until the bill arrives.
If your water bill has climbed with no change in habits, check every cistern before assuming a hidden leak.
Traditional taps use a washer, and replacing one is cheap and quick. Ceramic disc taps and mixers use a cartridge instead — also replaceable, but the cartridge must match the brand and model.
If you're being quoted a full mixer replacement for a drip, ask whether a cartridge would do it. Sometimes the answer is genuinely no, because the part is discontinued. Sometimes it isn't.
The call-out is the fixed part of the cost. If three taps in the house are tired, doing them in one visit is materially cheaper than three visits.
Worth walking around and making a list before booking anything.
A tap that won't shut off no matter how hard it's turned, water appearing at the base of a tap or in the cupboard below, or a mixer weeping inside a wall cavity. Those are different — the last one damages the building.
And if the work totals more than $750, it needs a compliance certificate like anything else.
Geelong.
Where this job typically sits. Access is usually a bigger cost driver than size.
| Job | Indicative price | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency call-out, business hours | $120 – $250 | Attending and diagnosing. Some credit it against the work; ask, because not all do. |
| After hours, weekend or public holiday | $180 – $400 | The call-out premium. Confirm it on the phone before anyone is dispatched. |
| Burst pipe — isolate and repair | $250 – $900 | Depends heavily on access. A pipe in a wall or under a slab costs multiples of one in a roof space. |
| Blocked drain — machine clear | $200 – $550 | Electric eel or high-pressure jet. Root-bound lines take longer. |
| CCTV drain camera inspection | $150 – $400 | Usually the sensible next step after a second blockage in the same line. |
| Blocked toilet | $150 – $400 | Cheaper if it's the pan, more if the blockage is out in the sewer line. |
| Hot water unit repair | $180 – $600 | Elements, thermostats, valves and thermocouples. Worth trying before replacement. |
| Hot water unit replacement | $1,200 – $3,500 | Electric storage at the lower end; continuous-flow gas and heat pump at the upper. |
| Leak detection, non-invasive | $250 – $600 | Acoustic and thermal tracing to find a leak without opening walls or slab. |
| Gas leak — make safe and repair | $250 – $800 | Gasfitting licence class. Never a job to defer or attempt. |
| Tap or mixer replacement | $150 – $400 | Per tap, plus the fitting. Often bundled if several are done at once. |
| Sewer or stormwater repair | from $900 | Excavation dependent. A camera inspection first tells you what you're actually buying. |
Prices are indicative only. What a job costs depends on the fault, how long it takes to find, whether parts are needed and whether it's after hours. You get a firm price before any work starts.
Something has gone wrong now — water running, gas smell, or sewage inside.
Water escaping and not stopping. The one where minutes genuinely count.
Slow, gurgling or backing up — and why the same drain keeps doing it.
No hot water, not enough, or a unit leaking — and repair versus replace.
A gas smell is a life-safety situation, not a plumbing inconvenience.
Rising, not flushing, or overflowing — and whether it's the pan or the sewer.
Tell us the suburb and what's happening and we'll get it to the right person.
Call 0483 963 438