Plumber Camden, NSW 2570
Camden is a historic 1840s town on the Nepean River that the Macarthur estates have grown out to meet. Argyle Street keeps its heritage shopfronts and cottages, the streets behind it are 1950s-90s homes on Cumberland Plain clay, and the river flats around the showground and Cowpasture Bridge flood in big rain events, most recently in 2022. Fog and frost settle on the river on winter mornings. Camden Valley Way and the Camden Bypass link it to Narellan and the M31.
What usually goes wrong in Camden
- Earthenware sewers and galvanised pipes in heritage cottages cracked, corroded and blocked with roots
- Nepean River floodwater and sewer surcharge in low streets near Cowpasture Bridge and the showground
- Hot water units and relief valves failing in 1980s-90s brick veneer homes after decades of hot summers
- Grease traps and drain blockages in the cafes and pubs along Argyle Street
- Stormwater pits and downpipes overloading in summer storms on blocks that drain toward the river
Local notes from the plumbers
Camden is a country town that Sydney has grown out to meet, and the plumbing under Argyle Street and the surrounding cottages dates back further than anywhere else in Macarthur. Heritage homes and shopfronts from the 1840s onward have been replumbed several times, but galvanised water lines, earthenware sewers and old cast-iron stacks still turn up behind the walls, cracked, corroded and full of roots from the old street trees. The town centre sits on the Nepean River flood plain, and the river came up in March 2022 across the showground, the low streets near Cowpasture Bridge and the river flats; even in a normal summer storm those streets get sewer surcharge through the overflow gully and stormwater in the yard. The 1950s-70s fibro and brick homes behind the town and the 1980s-90s brick veneer toward Elderslie and Camden South bring clay-cracked sewers, copper pinholes and hot water units failing after decades of hot summers. The cafes and pubs along Argyle Street keep grease traps busy. Winter mornings are known for fog and frost, though that rarely damages pipes. Camden Valley Way and the Camden Bypass are the usual approaches.
Housing in Camden
Heritage cottages and shopfronts from the 1840s onward along Argyle Street and John Street, 1950s-70s fibro and brick homes on the streets behind the town centre, 1980s-90s brick veneer on the higher ground toward Elderslie and Camden South, and rural homes on the river flats along the Nepean.
