What is this pipe in my garage?

Question

I have a mystery pipe in my garage which spews water occasionally (can't tell when why). The black flexible pipe is just a small pipe that connect to any drain and just lies on the ground. This is how the previous owners left it. The water that comes out of the pipe can be cloudy/dirty with food particles which makes me think this is connected to the kitchen sink drain somehow.

What's the purpose of this pipe? Where should it lead to? What should I do with it?

I occasionally see it spewing enough water to cause a medium pool of water in the garage. I'd like to close/fix it the way it's supposed to.

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 15 '18 at 05:50

4

That looks like it is a wye pipe fitting (cleanout) with a cap on it, but with a hose added to it to help drain the pipe stack when it backs up. I can only assume that there is a partial blockage later in this pipe, and this helps prevent it from backing up into a sink upstairs. The solution is to remove the blockage with a roto rooter or equivalent, and replace the cap with one that doesn't have a hole in it.

answered Jan 15 '18 at 05:50

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I bet the flexible hose was connected to a water softener that the previous owners took with them. The hose looks like the discharge hose on my softener. – Tom Jan 17 '20 at 18:47

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 15 '18 at 12:37

It could be that there is a serious blockage in the sewer which limits the amount of flow that the sewer can handle. What comes to my mind is a collapsed sewer drain in your yard. The only way to determine what is going on is to hire a plumber to send a video camera down your drain.

What is this pipe in my garage?

2 Answers2