Big Pipe Mystery! What is this?

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Rudeman

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For the last 5 years I've wondered what this big (6inch) PVC pipe was on the side of my (Tampa, Florida) house. I've wondered, but since I belong to the "Leave Well Enough Alone Club", I've never investigated. Then today I uncover the same size pipe under my pool deck bar (hidden under a base cabinet). It is filled with water and it is about 6ft from the other pipe on the outside of the wall. Anybody have any thoughts?
 
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hj

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Well, the top one is a vent of some kind but we cannot tell WHAT it is venting. The other one may be a sleeve for a drain cleanout but, again, we are guessing because we would have to actually do some testing to check it out.
 

Rudeman

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The other one may be a sleeve for a drain cleanout but, again, we are guessing because we would have to actually do some testing to check it out.

What kind of testing would need to be done for the drain cleanout? An more importantly if I have no plumbing issues do I care?
My thought was to put a cap on it so it would still be serviceable if needed.
 

Jadnashua

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There may be a removable cap under that water (it looks like water!). Get a wet vac or sponge and remove the water and see what it looks like down there.
 

WorthFlorida

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Could be venting for a drainage system under the pool deck. The pipe under the deck might lead to a dry well or another part of your lot to drain water away.
 

JerryR

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The bottom one looks like the overflow for the pool. It would prevent the pool from over filling and spilling onto the deck.

It's probably connected to the skimmer.

Right now with all the rain the pool level is probably at its highest level. If the level of water in that pipe rises and falls with the level of water in the pool that would confirm it. Once water evaporates and the pool level goes down you will probably see theater level in that pipe drop, if that's what it is.
 

Rudeman

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The bottom one looks like the overflow for the pool. It would prevent the pool from over filling and spilling onto the deck.

It's probably connected to the skimmer.

Right now with all the rain the pool level is probably at its highest level. If the level of water in that pipe rises and falls with the level of water in the pool that would confirm it. Once water evaporates and the pool level goes down you will probably see theater level in that pipe drop, if that's what it is.
I scooped some water out of the hole and it was surprisingly clear. I think you may be correct. I'm gonna test the water with the pool testing kit and see if the readings are the same in the hole as in the pool.

I've had houses in South Florida with pools before, but did not have anything like what I'm seeing here in Tampa.
 

Rudeman

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Could be venting for a drainage system under the pool deck. The pipe under the deck might lead to a dry well or another part of your lot to drain water away.

I had no idea venting would be used for something like that. I'm gonna call it mystery solved, leave it all alone and worry about the other dozen problems I have around the house. Thanks for the reply.
 

JerryR

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I scooped some water out of the hole and it was surprisingly clear. I think you may be correct. I'm gonna test the water with the pool testing kit and see if the readings are the same in the hole as in the pool.

I've had houses in South Florida with pools before, but did not have anything like what I'm seeing here in Tampa.

The homes I've owned in Ft Lauderdale area did not have overflows for pool. When it really rained long and hard the pool would overflow over the top of the coping.

The homes with pools I've owned in Sarasota/Bradenton area all had overflow pipes. In fact in my current home the max water level was too high for comfort so I cut the overflow pipe by 1/2" and the pool water level after heavy rains (like this week) is 1/2" lower than before.
 

Reach4

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I scooped some water out of the hole and it was surprisingly clear. I think you may be correct. I'm gonna test the water with the pool testing kit and see if the readings are the same in the hole as in the pool.

I would expect much less chlorine in the pipe, because there is limited mixing. You could pump water out to let the pipe contents get replaced.
 

Rudeman

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The homes I've owned in Ft Lauderdale area did not have overflows for pool. When it really rained long and hard the pool would overflow over the top of the coping.

The homes with pools I've owned in Sarasota/Bradenton area all had overflow pipes. In fact in my current home the max water level was too high for comfort so I cut the overflow pipe by 1/2" and the pool water level after heavy rains (like this week) is 1/2" lower than before.

Bingo! I'm from Ft. lauderdale/Planation originally -- living in Tampa now. What little I know about pools is based on what I learned down in South Florida. An overflow and vent were not part of any set up I ever had. I'm gonna look for a vent cover to put over it and move on.
 
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