HELP! Mystery water pipe in basement!

[oxmanwi]

I have a ranch style home built in 1961 in the Milwaukee, WI area. I have this mystery water pipe going to the bottom of my foundation wall in my basement. It connects to the cold water pipe. Has two shut off valves. I'm on a well NOT city water. I need to find out if it is suppose to stay or not. I'm remodeling my basement and I'm trying to frame a wall where the pipe is. If it's some weird pipe that does nothing I'd like to cut it out and cap it.

I'm clueless on what the heck this is for. Any ideas? Thank you in advance.

Cheers,

Josh

 

[sixty4]

I take it valves are off? Best guess would be for fountain garage or lawn hydrant etc.

 

[oxmanwi]

The valves are off. Sorry I should have meantioned I'm on a Well not city water

 

[uniballer]

Did the house used to be hooked to city?

 

[oxmanwi]

No never, I'm outside the city water grid

 

[oxmanwi]

Could this be connected to my drain tile to flush it out?

I need to find out if it is suppose to stay or not. I'm remodeling my basement and I'm trying to frame a wall where the pipe is. If it's some weird pipe that does nothing I'd like to cut it out and cap it.

 

[sixty4]

Could this be connected to my drain tile to flush it

Doubt it very much. Looking at that line probably fed something like I mentioned earlier (sprinkler garage etc)? Reason I say this is because of the tee on the line was probably used to blow out the line for winter.

 

[SIX225]

Valve between two "t"s lead me to believe that maybe a water softener was connected here at one time.

 

[davejo]

hot water supply to the hot tub buried in the yard?

what happens when you open the valves? does it look scabbed in or part of the original initial plumbing install? do you need water on the other side of the wall for any imagined purpose?

I think that if you don't know what it does and is not providing you any apparent service, it is by definition "a weird pipe that does nothing" and may therefore be removed and capped

 

[readhead]

Do you know where it comes from in the house? Consider opening the lower T and turning on the valves one at a time to see if the line is changed. My guess is it supplied something outside at one time.

 

[MikeinNorthWales]

Could it be prep for future connection to a future city water supply? Someone may have just thought ahead and ran the pipe so the water system and wall wouldn't need to be disturbed. The space between the 2 valves may be for the meter.

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

 

[larry4406]

Looks like it's nice and tight to the wall compared to your 2x4 pressure treated sill. Assuming you are framing a 2x4 wall, center the stud bay on the pipe, put an access panel, let sleeping dogs lie, and move on.

 

[alien]

Looks like it's nice and tight to the wall compared to your 2x4 pressure treated sill. Assuming you are framing a 2x4 wall, center the stud bay on the pipe, put an access panel, let sleeping dogs lie, and move on.

This!

 

[DaveIRL]

Looks like it's nice and tight to the wall compared to your 2x4 pressure treated sill. Assuming you are framing a 2x4 wall, center the stud bay on the pipe, put an access panel, let sleeping dogs lie, and move on.

agreed. the pipe should be left alone. it might have just been a prep pipe. like when a plumber puts in provisions for things for instance. when a house was being renovated, the owners said there was no need to put in pipes for an outside oil boiler from the copper cylinder because they have a stove. but as the floor was exposed i put them in anyway. a year down the line they realized that they wanted an outside boiler as the house was too cold but they didn't want their floor tiles ruined, i was able to use the blanked pipes and save alot of extra work for myself and the client got to keep their tiles

 

[DaveIRL]

best advice ask the original plumber.

 

[Kpaige]

Either measure it out then go iutside and dig a hole to see what you have or have the wife or friend turn it on they can watch from inside for water and you can be outside might possibly see something.
My guess is they put it it to run water for a garden or out building they appear to have installed it below the frost line.

 

[John in OH]

My old farm house used to have a line somewhat similar to this one. It was the supply line from an old natural spring that used to be the water source for the house before a well was drilled.

When the well and pump were installed, the tie-in point for the well water was at a different location in the basement so Dad just closed the spring's valves and left the piping in place. I finally physically removed the spring water piping 25 years ago.

 

[CoogarXR]

My house is from 1860, and I have two abandoned setups. One from an old village water system (1" inlet!) and a pipe to an abandoned cistern system. Lots of **** happens over the years.

Funny yours is still connected. Both of mine are just stubs out of the wall.

 

[wssix99]

How long have you had the house? That is a Frankenstein pipe with mixed copper, iron, and a bunch of tees. Could a previous owner been doing some "hydroponics" in the basement?

It looks like something hydrologic was going on in the basement, was gradually expanded over time, and that the valves isolated part of the circuit.

I can't tell - does the bottom of that stack go through the wall or does it dead-end?

 

[nh_yota]

best advice ask the original plumber.

He's probably dead.

 

[nh_yota]

Is it on the same side of the house as the pipe from the current well?

 

[-Brent-]

best advice ask the original plumber.

Even if he did find the original plumber, you think the guy is going to remember why he put that pipe there 55 years ago? That plumber has to be in his mid to late 70s at the very least. Hahaha.

 

[roc_on_the_rocks]

Perhaps unscrew the valves' heads to see if there's water inside?

 

[BillK]

I don't know what it is for but I do know that if it was my house it would drive me crazy until I figured out where it went.

 

[rwhite692]

Turn on the valves.

About a week from now you should get a letter in the mail from an old lady in Germany

saying "Cut it out!"

 

[nh_yota]

Start digging.

 

[Piper27]

If you decide to cut the pipe out can you set up a camera and record it in case anything funny happens.

 

[nh_yota]

The government is stealing your water.

 

[Finallygotit]

Do you know for sure that's a water service and not gas? Like someone said earlier, slowly remove the plug on the tee to see what you have.

YMMV

 

[kbs2244]

Have you checked with the local building department?
They may have an "as built" record.

Otherwise....

How long have they been turned off?
Is anything not working that should be?
I agree with the idea of leaving sleeping dogs lie, but build with some access if ever needed.

 

[59 wagon man]

it eas a water softener hookup that valve diverted the water to the softener

 

[Finallygotit]

I would tend to agree with this ^^^^^^^^^^

 

[davejo]

it eas a water softener hookup that valve diverted the water to the softener

Is there a pump house?

If this was a previous supply line from an original well, wouldn't there be electrical artifacts from the well pump supply or the pressure tank etc?

I would try dousing?? rods before digging to see where the line extends underground

 

[CNGsaves]

OP . . . . the bigger problem is whether you have galvanized steel water pipes ??

If so, those all need replaced with Pex or Copper.

Do NOT be in any big hurry to tear that all out. It could be excellent supply to in-ground sprinkler system, outdoor water spigot, water run to garage, etc.

I'd try talking with previous OWNERS of the house. That should be public information.

 

[Al Borland]

If you decide to cut the pipe out can you set up a camera and record it in case anything funny happens.

^^^This!^^^

 

[wssix99]

it eas a water softener hookup that valve diverted the water to the softener

Ahhh - that's it!

 

[racer-john]

Ahhh - that's it!

...and where is the output from the softener?

 

[davejo]

...and where is the output from the softener?

how about a cartridge filter assembly?

 

[krcoomer]

I have not seen mention of where it goes on the inside of the house. Nonetheless, I would not remove the pipe unless you have water infiltration around it since you are going to enclose the area it is in. If no water is leaking around the pipe, let the sleeping dog lie and work around it. Access panel as someone else suggested is an excellent idea for future use, to allow next owner to know something was there and not wonder why the hell you covered up a pipe with valves.

 

[wssix99]

...and where is the output from the softener?

In one tee and out the other. Presumably, the gate valve between the tees would be closed when the water treatment is in service and open whenever the treatment system is isolated and being serviced itself.