Identify the conctrete-drain-looking-thingy?

pmartin86

I recentlyish moved into a new house, ive started clearing the garden and found this towards the back of the garden, well away from any of the known drain/utility routes and im stumped as to what it might be, anyone got any suggestions or advice? Idealy I'd like to remove it if possible but I want to know what it is before i start "hitting ti with a hammer" so to speak.

wallbash

Has the top section , ignore the concrete block , got holes/grid on the side.
Its a vent for a drain.
But its very low in the ground and has not worked for years.

pmartin86

I don't see any grid but it could still be covered with dirt, I shall pok it with a stick later on and see, if it IS a vet for an (old? Diss-used?) drain, I assume I can just chisel it down a bit and grass over it?

wallbash

Well it looks like the whole thing was buried, so a vent ! would not have worked.

Owain_Moneysaver

Air inlet for a drain, possibly for a cesspit - might there have been a house before mains drainage - or for a disconnecting chamber.

There would have been a mica flap in the square hole to enable air to enter the drains but (in theory) stop foul air escaping, as at A in the diagram.

Ectophile

It would be worth checking if the drain is actually disused before removing it.

pmartin86

Thanks for the replies all, that diagram is expecialy useful!

I'm 99% certain that it wouldnt ahve been from a previous dwelling, as I know that the land my house was built on was farmland up untill this current house was built in 1928, most of the street was built at the same time. I also know that all the drainage goes towards the front of the house, this is a good 30 foot back from the back of the house.

I'm reasonably confident that it isn't in use any more, as previously mention, it was mostly buried, only the top inch ro so was visible, and even then only found when I cut down the massivly overgrown garden.

Who would I need to contact to be sure that its safe to remove? Would Welsh Water be the ones? (I live in wales, they deal with all water supply and drainage, or at least they bill me and claim to!)

Regards
Paul

Owain_Moneysaver

At 1928 new build on farmland it's really possible the houses were built with cess pits and then the mains drainage was added later.

Get an inspection camera / borescope and have a look down the pipe.

SailorSam

Could you phone your local Council and ask would they have any old records that may show drains in that area.