Hayes Plumbing handles drain cleaning in Newcastle, Clarington, for houses in the village around Mill Street and King Avenue, in Bond Head and Wilmot Creek, and on rural properties nearby. One of our licensed plumbers drives over from Oshawa, finds which drain is blocked and clears it, usually with a motorized snake. If the pipe is coated with grease we can hydro jet it, and if it keeps blocking we can put a camera down it to see why.
Newcastle's water and sewer system
Inside the village, the Region of Durham handles both water and sewage. Newcastle has one of the Region's Lake Ontario supply plants, and that system's hardness is 125 mg/L. Wastewater travels through about 52 kilometres of sanitary sewer, by gravity and through the Sunset sanitary sewage pumping station, to the Newcastle Water Pollution Control Plant, whose 2025 annual report counts about 13,100 residents in its service area.
On the sewer, a blockage between the house and the property line is the homeowner's to clear, while Region crews handle the section running from the main to the edge of your property if the problem turns out to be there. Outside the village the picture changes. A 2023 Clarington planning report on a subdivision in Newtonville notes that development there must use municipal water but relies on private sewage systems, and the Region of Durham notes that many rural residents have private wells and septic systems.
Grease in newer kitchen drains
A newer house is no guarantee against a blocked kitchen sink. Cooking fat goes down warm and liquid, but the Region of Durham says it can set as it cools further along the pipes and build up there, and that running hot water with detergent does not prevent it. Food scraps and soap catch on the coating until the sink drains slowly, then stops.
A snake reopens the pipe. When it comes out thick with fat, jetting is the better follow-up, because it cleans the full pipe wall and the line stays open longer. The Region's suggestions for getting rid of cooking fat instead of washing it down the sink:
- Let it cool and harden, or blot it with paper towel, then put it in the green bin.
- Cool and save cooking oil that can be used again.
- Mix cooled fat with birdseed and nuts and hang it in a tree for the birds.
- Large quantities can go to a Regional waste management facility or hazardous waste depot, which takes it free if it arrives separate from other waste.
Drains on a septic system
If your property is on septic, all the household wastewater ends up in your own tank. Ontario's SepticSmart guide counts cooking oils and food scraps poured down the drain among its don'ts, along with a garburator unless your system was built to handle one, and it says special additives aren't needed. Any repair to the tank or leaching bed needs a Health Department permit.
If you have a septic system, mention it when booking. The first step is working out whether the clog sits in one fixture, in the main drain or beyond the house, and that decides how we clear it.
What it costs, and when Clarington needs a permit
Going by our 2026 Oshawa plumbing cost guide, a drain cleaning visit costs $150 to $400, and the severity of the clog and its location decide where a job lands. Hydro jetting takes more time and equipment than snaking and is quoted when we know the length and condition of the line. The price is written down before we begin.
If the camera turns up a damaged pipe, the fix gets its own quote, and a permit may come into it: Clarington normally requires one for altering or adding plumbing. The Municipality's Building Division answers permit questions at BuildingPermits@clarington.net.