Calling The Landscape (Irrigation) Experts

[HeyEng]

Was out messing around in the yard today and came across something I am not familiar with. It appears to be some sort of water feature/jet something, but I don't know what.

There is a fully operational irrigation system that has been run fully and it doesn't seem to be tied to this "system" in any way. Also, as you see in the picture, there is a French drain that is right next to this. There is a functional French drain system in the yard (for the deck drain as well for the sloping terrain and retaining wall) but I don't know that these are connected.

There are 3 of these as indicated by the arrows in the other picture, each with the French drain next to it. The original owner was going to have a spa constructed with the pool, but budgetary constraints nixed that idea. However, looking at the PB plans, the flower area that has these jets was where the spa was going to be. Also, inside the cover, there is a plug and it looks like two different jets/sprayers, and none of them are capped/plugged.

So any idea what these might be?

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I wonder if this is a small watering system around the pool to compensate for expansive soil? I know folks in Dallas seem to have them at times, not sure about OK? Sort of meant to keep the soil at a stable moisture content so it doesn't dry out and shift.

Otherwise.... maybe to water the garden???

Maddie

 

[Arizonarob]

Looking at their orientation in the garden bed, are you sure they are not a water feature for your pool? They look like fountains that would spray into your pool.
Is there a valve on the equipment pad that is missed? Maybe they were plumbed and never used?

 

[mknauss]

Looks like the deck jets we have. Except they never installed the jet portion. The label you see was to be removed once fully installed.

 

[Jcvader99]

Concur... those are deck jet "lids". If you pop that flat top off, there should be nozzles underneath that you can aim. If they didn't install the guts of the jets, then its just and empty tube with a plastic lid.

This is the whole set of parts...

 

[HeyEng]

Thanks for all the input, mystery solved! I don't think they were fully plumbed into the pool but they are definitely connected to PVC that goes into the ground. Perhaps they are connected to the "mystery pipes" that I inquired about a while back... (post here)

There are only two valves on the pool (one for skimmer/main drain and for ledge bubblers) so currently I can't see a way that they would work. I might hook up a hose to the "mystery pipe" bib and see if it happens to come out at the jets.

 

[Arizonarob]

Thanks for all the input, mystery solved! I don't think they were fully plumbed into the pool but they are definitely connected to PVC that goes into the ground. Perhaps they are connected to the "mystery pipes" that I inquired about a while back... (post here)

There are only two valves on the pool (one for skimmer/main drain and for ledge bubblers) so currently I can't see a way that they would work. I might hook up a hose to the "mystery pipe" bib and see if it happens to come out at the jets.

Ok, so some thinking on my end. Open up the hose bib and see what happens. If nothing happens, I’m starting to think that, that may be the feed to those fountains. They may have plumbed that setup not to use the pump, but rather your garden hose. Do you have an autofill on your pool?

If water starts coming out of it, then that most likely is the way you drain down your pool. They installed those fountains and the plumbing has to go somewhere.

 

[HeyEng]

Ok, so some thinking on my end. Open up the hose bib and see what happens. If nothing happens, I’m starting to think that, that may be the feed to those fountains. They may have plumbed that setup not to use the pump, but rather your garden hose. Do you have an autofill on your pool?

If water starts coming out of it, then that most likely is the way you drain down your pool. They installed those fountains and the plumbing has to go somewhere.

I have opened the bib in the past in different configurations and I got a big old whopping...nothing. I do like the idea of hooking up a hose to it and see where it goes. There is no autofill.

I agree that most likely they go "somewhere" but the previous homeowner did some very odd things with this house, and there are a lot of mysteries that go with it. This is just one more of those...

 

[Arizonarob]

Yeah hook a hose up to it and see if they work. Since no autofill, that may have been the way he was topping off the pool water.

 

[Arizonarob]

Eng, I was just looking through your pool photos and I noticed you have a second hose bib coming out of the filter.
So, my thinking is, IF those fountains work by hooking up a hose to those pipes, then he may have simply hooked up a hose going from the filter bib, to the fountain bib.

 

[HeyEng]

Eng, I was just looking through your pool photos and I noticed you have a second hose bib coming out of the filter.
So, my thinking is, IF those fountains work by hooking up a hose to those pipes, then he may have simply hooked up a hose going from the filter bib, to the fountain bib.

I didn't even think about the bib on the filter, as a matter of fact, I don't think I realized that there was a bib there! I think I initially thought it was there to drain the filter (before I realized that there is drain on the backside).

It'll be a few days before I can mess with this, but I will report my findings when I get to it.

 

[Arizonarob]

@HeyEng What’s the update on this?? Did you ever figure it out?

 

[HeyEng]

@HeyEng What’s the update on this?? Did you ever figure it out?

I have not. To be honest, the house (and the surrounding grounds) have been keeping me very, VERY busy the last few months. We have also been getting a lot of rain, so when the weather is decent, it means I am outside dealing with stuff. It's still on my list, so hopefully I will dig into the mystery before the year is out.

 

[Arizonarob]

That’s ok, the suspense isn’t going to kill anyone. Or is it?

 

[HeyEng]

Well, for those of you that have been anxiously waiting my testing...

I hooked up a hose to the "mystery" plumbing and let 'er rip. I was waiting to see water shoot from the installed deck jets...but...I got noting. As a matter of fact, pretty sure that the water didn't go anywhere as there was zero flow, just the pressure release from my hose bib (on the house). At this point it doesn't matter; the foliage is such that I wouldn't be able to use the jets anyway, but it would have been nice to figure out the mystery plumbing. Oh well...thus is life as a pool owner!