6 family 3 story brick house in Brooklyn, NY. Built around 1925. I
recently discovered the downspout was clogged. It goes into a 4" ( or
5"?) cast iron pipe into the ground in the backyard. Lots of junk
inside ( leaves, rubber handballs). I could not manage to clear it,
might get a pro to do it.
But just out of curiousity, do these downspouts tie into the bldgs
sewer system? Reason I ask because in the basement there is a cleanout
plug in the floor by the cellar door, with a pipe going out towards
the backyard. Could they have built it that way back then, or did they
run a seperate pipe in the basement floor just for the rainwater? I
did try to run water in the downspout to see if any water was flowing
through the cleanout, but the pipe is 100% clogged.
I'm not sure if there is a drywell back there either.


*I don't know about Brooklyn, but I was surprised to learn that the storm
run off and the sewer system in Manhattan were connected when I worked in
the city years ago.