Hello folks, I was doing an inspection recently and noticed these 4" green PVC pipes near the front yard of the townhome, which I believe are sewer cleanouts, correct? How often are these used, since the homes are on a municipal sewer system? The other issue is that these pipes are getting damaged. It looks like the builder initially capped them with rubber-gasketed plugs, which are heavily deteriorated after 20+ years. I assume a threaded PVC cap would be a better way to plug these? Some of these pipes are just a few inches above the ground and others (in common areas, where there is turf) are 2-3 ft above ground. Is there a better, less unsightly method to provide such access? Is the access even needed?
If there is another access than its not needed. It also depends on the span from the house to city main. Some area like mine require a clean out every 100ft. It may have also been installed by the town to get access with out going in the home owners house. The cap is fine. When I do old sewer lines that are cast iron with a brass cap, you can almost never get them off. So I bust it out with a hammer and point, replace it with one of them. Or a fernco fitting with a plastic cap.
Current standards require cleanouts. Definitely good to have if you have a plumbing issue.
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The other thing is, did you scope it? To confirm its going to the sewer main. I have seen them before that connect to the perimeter drainage around the house.
Ahh, that’s interesting Kevin. I’m a home inspector but I don’t have the equipment or certification yet for sewer inspections. Is there another way to verify that?
I also contacted the sewer district and they said that the sewer lines run from the street to the units. So I can understand having cleanouts in front of the homes but not to the side of the homes, about 15 ft away and not in the direction of the street.
To verify it have your client or you take a dump in a toilet. Then while watchng outside have the client flush said toilet. Then watch for the turd floating by.
Simple test:
- Make sure no water is running.
- Look into the pipe and ensure no water is flowing.
- Turn on a tub spigot and go look again to see if water is now flowing.
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Here are a couple of pics i took from looking inside the pipes. I am mostly seeing gravel at the bottom of these pipes. In one case I saw another metal plug at the bottom of the pipe. I am looking down about 5 or 6 feet.
SDR sewer pipe. The yellow plug is usually used as a test cap but there’s no problem with leaving it in place. I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. It’s just a cap to access the sewer to clean out.
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Put your nose by it and smell. If it’s sewer it will definitely smell like it.
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Yes but my shit doesn’t stink so how will that work??
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Have we eliminated storm drainage? I see gravel, grass, and debris, which is atypical in sanitary sewers.
I would start here.
Looks like a water shit off valve.
It works as everyone else’s shit does, you will get a good sniff from the sewer main.
My sewer scope yesterday was the worst one I smelt in 4 years of doing scopes. But the sewer line was only 35 feet from the main.
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Yeah, those pipes could be to any number of things… as others have suggested do a flush test, etc. to ensure you’re in the right hole 
Scoping a storm drain is pretty embarrassing but I’ve seen it happen. The easiest way to be fooled is when the rain is just enough to mimic the water you run. This is why I prefer a toilet flush… hard to confuse that with tub/sink water running.
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Should I expect to find a curb stop even when there is a shutoff inside the home at the meter?
There was no smell whatsoever, so it must be related to city water or a drain system of some sort
Absolutely!
When the consumer fails to pay their water bill, the city isn’t going to break down the door to turn the water off… or if the service piping needs repairs!!
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Never heard of “shitting boulders”, eh???
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