In article ,
Nate Nagel wrote:

Hi all,

I don't actually have a problem currently, but I am trying to locate the
drain for my downspout with no luck. Downspout was disconnected from
drain pipe and diverted to a cistern before I bought the house, however
the overflow drains for the cistern simply dump onto the ground.
There's a stub of PVC pipe sticking up from the ground but it doesn't
let water flow. Well, it does, but very, very slowly. The only
possible location that I could see for it to terminate is that there is
a drain pipe by the curb in front of the house, however it is bone dry.
Trying to stick a snake up that drain from the curb accomplishes
nothing, it is open for as long as the longest snake I have. Trying to
snake it from the downspout end accomplishes nothing either, I get
caught at an S-curve almost immediately.

I will get a longer snake, but I have two concerns... first, I don't
know whether I have a French drain or not, so the drain pipe by the curb
might be for the French drain and has nothing to do with the downspout.
Also I know that when the house was built there was an alley behind
it, and the alley is no longer there.

So here's the question; is there any way to determine where exactly a
PVC drain pipe runs if you can't snake it without digging? Digging this
up would likely involve draining the cistern, moving it, and removing a
large concrete pad.

thanks,

nate

A downspout drain? Damn, never heard of one. I guess I need to get out
more, or maybe I just live in a different part of the country.