I’m clearing out my flower bed and I came across this. How likely is it that I can get it out without any professional help? It is not near our bathroom, but it is near our kitchen. I just sprayed it off with a hose.
Update based on very good questions in the comments:
-house built in 1942
-MA
-the city rolled out sewers between 1940-1980
-there are rocks and stuff inside whatever this is so it fits the decommissioned septic theory
-the reason why I’m taking off the flower, but it’s because I wanna put gravel on it so we can put our bikes there overnight. This old septic tank or sewer opening or whatever it is is sticking a little high up and was only 2 inches below the dirt. But I can work around it as long as it is not a health and safety issue.
by Doc-Animal
11 Comments
Bury it again and pretend it never happened
Looks like it could be a septic tank opening. Maybe an old tank that someone filled with soil rather than removing.
based on the width i’d go with sewer access or drain system that isn’t draining anymore. do you have a septic tank?
https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/s/mvzorWCHT8
Looks like it could be one of these.
We do not have *an active* septic tank
That is an enclosure for something. Don’t pull it out until you know you don’t need it. Carefully remove the dirt inside and find out what’s in there. Could be a valve, cleanout, or some other utility for your house.
If someone didn’t intentionally put it there to contain spreading herbs or plants like mint or oregano, that is exactly what I would do with this. It would work really well for that purpose and you won’t see it with enough good soil you put in and on top of it.
That is an old “Garbage bin”. Back in the day, that would have a heavy steel lid on it. You can see the two things that would be part of the hinge. It also had a bucket that you slip in and out of it. Anyway, you put your food scraps in that. Then someone would come by in a garbage truck every other day or so, and dump the bucket in the back. They would take it to a farm and the food waste was fed to pigs. Trash was different. There wasn’t a lot of plastic back then, so you got your goods in cardboard or paper wrapping. You put those in your TRASH can. Then every week or so, a TRASH collector came by. That was also carted off to a Public Works yard. That was composted, or made into a machè, but most often, just dumped in the ocean.
https://preview.redd.it/9mkbgjko9c0h1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=be04a2c83ade0535955fa058c5a4ed1067c44360
Found a handle
Infinite fertilizer
It’s a dump port for an RV/Trailer.