Question

close up of the pipe t  
Mysterious pipe exit a   QUESTION: Hi Russel,

Need your advice. My house is on a slope and the end of my front yard drops off at a steep slope which is anchored down by large tree and shrub.  I found at the bottom of the slope a 4-inch PVC pipe that terminates on the slope and cut at an angle to flush with the slope. It extends into the soil for at least 10 feet. However, when I pour water on four drainage holes in the front yard the water does not come out from this 4-inch but the sidewalk water exit (which I think is proper.)

Do you know what this 4-inch PVC pipe is for?  Could it be to allow air to go into the soil?

It came with the house so I could not find out who designed it and what it is for.

Thanks in advance,
Anthony


ANSWER: Hey, Anthony.

It could be just about anything but my first guess is the termination point for the downspouts from your roof gutters. If you don't have roof gutters and downspouts...............

Then your guess would be my second guess.

Another guess would be the termination point for a drainage culvert somewhere there on the slope. Usually the drainage culverts are in back of the house and the PVC pipe leads the draining water to the front of the property to help control erosion.

Hope that helps.

Russel

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------


gutter water drainage  

water out to the stree   QUESTION: Hi Russel, .

Hi Kevin,

I have roof gutters and ran the following tests:

1. The roof water is collected into gutters and collected via a pipe into a ground drain at the end of the front yard.  I used a garden hose to run water into this drain hole and observed water coming out from the a water drain that runs underneath the sidewalk into the street then into the storm drain, I did not see water come out from the 4-inch pipe in question.

2. There are also four water drain holes located across the front yard.  Again I used a garden hose to run water into each of the four holes and observed water coming out from the same water drain that runs underneath the sidewalk into the street then into the storm drain, I did not see water come out from the 4-inch pipe in question.


If this pipe is for air to go into the soil, do you know where I can find more information about it? The name of this type of design, its purpose, its construction, etc.  I would like to learn more about it.

Thanks so much for your answer.
Anthony

Answer
I doubt that it's to get air into the soil. With your follow-up, I suspect that it is the termination for some landscaping that was originally done by the builder but previous owners have done their own landscaping.

One of our hilly subdivisions here where they started buildng in 1994 has lots of similar landscaping and drainage terminations. The builder often puts a notice on the wall in the garage about the landscaping and drainage. That doesn't always prevent people from doing their own landscaping and ignoring what the builder did, and why.