If you've noticed a pipe leading to the outside of your home that drips water, there's a good chance that this is actually just your AC condensate drain, which is supposed to carry water outside your home.
AC Drain Lines and Water Heater PRV Lines
The two most common drain pipes that most people have on the side of their house are: Air conditioner condensate lines (AC drain line). Water heater pressure relief valve lines (PRV drain line).
It's an overflow pipe for a toilet, boiler, or tank of some kind. It's in case something overfills, and excess water can leave the system. If the location of the pipe doesn't correspond with one of those items inside the house then it may be been removed and the contractor didn't remove the external pipe.
In newer homes, a drain clean out is usually a 4″ white PVC pipe, with a white cap, protruding from your lawn. In some older homes, especially with a cast iron sewer line, there may or may not be a cast iron clean out in your yard.
An overflow pipe leads from a water storage tank or cistern inside your home to the outside. If the water in the tank or cistern fills up to a higher level than it should, the excess water flows down through the overflow pipe and runs outside, rather than leaking into your home.
Reasons for leaking overflow pipe
When you discover a dripping or running overflow pipe outside, the most common problem is the float valve, which is found in toilet cisterns, cold water tanks and central heating feed and expansion tanks.
An exterior drainage pipe is a perforated pipe that runs along your home's foundation. It collects groundwater and directs it away from your home, preventing damage. Here's why it's beneficial: Protects Foundation: Keeps water from pooling around your home's foundation, which can lead to mold and structural damage.
The Pipe in your yard is called a cleanout. A clean out can be 6 inch clay, 6 inch PVC, 4 inch clay or 4 inch PVC. The cleanout is used to troubleshoot potential problems within the collection system.
Can I cut my septic vent pipe? Cutting your septic vent pipe potentially creates a few issues. If done incorrectly, like cutting it too short for example, the pipe stops functioning properly. Additionally, there may be regulations set by your municipality or HOA that forbids certain alterations.
Installing a sewer line cleanout has many benefits when it comes to unclogging or maintaining sewer pipes. You need one if it's not already installed. Sewer line clogs are often hard to locate and can be too deep for a plumbing snake to reach or for the force of a plunger to have any effect.
Overflow pipes are often connected to loft tanks or wc's. They are usually made of white or grey plastic. Pressure relief pipes are similar, often connected to pressure relief (safety) valves on heating systems, boilers and on unvented hot water cylinders.
Water leaking from the side of your heater is likely your temperature pressure relief valve. The temperature pressure relief valve is a safety mechanism that allows for hot water and steam to discharge from the tank when there is too much pressure built up inside it.
Materials Used For Installing a Water Supply Line
The smaller branch water pipes supplying individual buildings are known as water service lines. Commonly used materials in water supply pipes include copper, ductile iron, and brass.
One pipe is an air conditioning condensate drain, also commonly referred to as an AC drain line. These pipes are usually white in color and are made from PVC piping. Another pipe you may find on the outside of your home is a water pressure relief valve, also known as a PRV drain line.
Reading Time: 4 minutes. Side pipes, or side exhaust pipes, let fumes from the exhaust exit through the side rather than the rear. Side pipes provide easier access to the rear suspension, move the vehicle's weight forward, and give the vehicle a more unique look.
Gable vents are exhaust vents located at both ends of the peak of a gabled roof, directly beneath the roof eaves on the sides of the house. Typically, homes have at least two gable vents, but if you have more than one gable or peak in your roof, you probably have more vents.
If you notice a pipe sticking out of the ground, this is likely a vent pipe. Usually, a vent pipe is about 4 inches in diameter and is often made of white PVC. We cannot pump through a vent pipe, as the vent pipe does not go directly into the septic tank.
Generally speaking, septic drain lines are buried between 18 and 36 inches underground, and the pipes are surrounded by gravel and sand to aid in the filtration and water treatment process.
So, what is that white pipe sticking up out of the ground in your backyard? Well, it's a sewer cleanout! It allows access to sewer pipes for cleaning or inspecting from down the line. If there's a problem inside the house that you can't get to or visualize from a stack, going up the line is a great option.
Its primary function is to prevent excess water from spilling, creating a mess, or causing dampness. Usually, the overflow pipes drain out of the home into the stormwater system outside. An overflow pipe is also installed in the home to ensure the water can drain outside if a tap runs into a blocked sink.
It is a vertical pipe that runs from your plumbing system's drainage system to the roof of your house, allowing air to enter the drain system and facilitate proper drainage. A plumbing vent system is an absolute necessity for every home's drainage system.
Your pipes may be old, especially if your home was built more than twenty years ago. One of the primary causes of outside pipes leaking is corrosion. Over time, pipes can corrode due to exposure to the elements, soil conditions, and the quality of the water flowing through them.
Gutters. Typically made of aluminum, gutters are found along the perimeter of a house. This piece collects rainwater, leads it to downspouts, and away from the home.
A typical house trap (also known as a “p-trap”) looks like a “U” in your plumbing line. Essentially, water gets caught in the curved pipe and blocks gasses from drifting back through the system.
The soil vent is a pipe that feeds from your sewerage pipes and up to the roof. Its purpose is to allow sewage gasses to vent away from where they can cause harm to people. It also services to equalise the atmospheric pressure inside your drains.