sewer line mystery...

[tws]

greetings plumbers,

over the years i've made you guys very rich and i don't regret it nor am i here to complain about your prices...

but i thought before i call another plumber i might get some clarification about my sewer/pipe/thingy.

half way between my small single story house and the street, just above the existing sewer line. (i know this because i spent $300 dollars for a plumbing service to poke a camera on a roto thingy and i saw the abs plastic sewer pipe go all the way to the street) are a set of covered iron pipes.

anyway there is this green box thing that covers three old iron pipes with caps... two of the pipes are just a Y that connects and goes to the sewer line i'm pretty sure... the other a smaller capped pipe is just full of dirt... the iron Y pipes are covered with what looks like tire inner tube rubber and sealed tight with ssteel strap. i poked a long slender bamboo stick down the Y and it got wet... plus i flushed my toliet and could hear some gurgling... i have attached pictures to further illustrate this state of affairs...

i'm going to dig to a depth of 8" - removing all the crabgrass for a space of 16' by 13' and this sewer pipe contraption lies within this area. next i'm going to cover the entire area with some heavy duty poly spun road cloth and then bury the lot with 3/4” minus gravel and pound the piss out it with one of those bumping/thumping things.

my question is what are these pipes and can i use them in the future, for example a drain or outhouse...(if these things are just clean-outs then I already have a couple in my dwelling/laundry room) i plan, if the grade permits, to just leave them alone, keep them covered and hope they wont' be above my finished gravel grade. i'm doing all of this to get rid of the crabgrass and put a 8'x8' greenhouse on top of a level gravel area – bordered by drift-pinned railroad ties...

here are several pictures. i hope you plumbers can enlighten me as to what these pipes are and how careful I have to be of them.



Thanks for an excellent forum.

tws

 

[frodo]

your pictures are not showing up, sounds like a double c/o

how far from the street is your house? code [ in most places, but i know not where you are]

require a cleanout every 100'. i prefer 50'

 

[tws]

picture link doesn't work so no pic's...

house is 100 feet from street.

so it looks as if this is a clean out due to code.

thanks.

 

[frodo]

how are you using the link ? see that manage attachment botton, below to the left?

click dat. if image is from your pc,, use choose file. click your picture, click ok, then click upload, when choose file disapears [loaded] close window click post reply


if from photobucket use upload from url,,[ same instructions as choose file]

 

[tws]

fixed it i think...

 

[frodo]

go buy, 2 --4'' pvc male adapters, screw them in where the brass plugs are [take the plug out]

extend them bad boys up to 1'' below grade..with pvc clean outs on the top of them

the third, pipe. i bet its a valve to turn your water on/off dig it up and see.

http://screencast.com/t/KBIOXcz4O

http://screencast.com/t/FUZd7wD1r

http://screencast.com/t/hzOdEjaB

 

[tws]

thanks frodo! great advise.

i'm going to dig a bit dipper later in the week after the bowl game...i'll see what i've got... and i'll definitely install the pvc adapters if things look hairy... you might be right about the water since i know the old iron water line ran very near the sewer... but i had that leaking water pipe replaced winter before last... crikey! that was expensive... i had a lateral boring guy come and drill and install a 100' x 1 1/2" pec line 4' beneath the sidewalk all the way to the house ... the wife and i could have spent a fortnight in Portugal for what that cost!

thanks again! great forum.

tws

 

[frodo]

your welcome, I predict patriots 21 to 13

unless the ball goes flat that is

 

[Matt30]

Deflateriots!

I can't wait until the Super Bowl is over and people wanna talk hockey again!