One of the first things I noticed after moving to Syracuse was a little metal pipe sticking out of the front of our yard. In fact, all of the houses on our street and in our neighborhood have these pipes: a (usually) rusty metal tube sticking up about six or seven inches, covered by a curved cap. All in all, it looks like a little metal mushroom or, in my eyes, a tube wearing a World War I helmet.

My partner, who grew up just outside the city, had never really noticed them and didn’t know what they were either. So we’ve had this small mystery on our hands, and on my daily drives into town, I’ve wondered what these things are. They’re seriously in front of every house around here.

With some digging, I was able to find the answer: these ubiquitous little things are sewage vents.

Oh…well, that’s less exciting than I was hoping, but cool.

So that seems pretty straightforward; these tubes allow the sewage pipes running from a house to the sewer to ventilate, while the mushroom-shaped cap keeps out debris and wind. (According to the aptly-named Sewer Department, it’s the responsibility of the homeowner to keep these things intact and clear, rather than the city.)

More interestingly, though, these appear to be known by a very un-creative name, the Syracuse mushroom vent, despite this type of vent being used in multiple situations. They’re listed this way on Amazon, Home Depot, and other websites too.

But sadly, it doesn’t seem to be a specifically local phenomenon. Other parts of the country have these as well, especially in “cleanout tee” capacities, as in something that allows the pipe to be cleaned out whenever a blockage occurs.

So there you go; a quick, simple, slightly-intriguing mystery solved. I hope you learned something new, just like I did.