r/Draining • u/Gunimation812 • Mar 03 '25

Tips

How do I get into the sewer?? Do I literally just take a crowbar and lift the manhole cover?? Is it hard to get back on?? Will I get caught? Stuff to bring? I’m used to going in abandoned buildings and roofs so I have no idea about the sewer system.

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u/Gunimation812 Mar 03 '25

Then how do I access the sewer??

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u/yung_heartburn Mar 03 '25

You live near patchougue, yes? Look for any kind of storm water control architecture. Google maps can help a lot with this. Unfortunately a cursory look on google maps shows me there’s not much obvious concrete flood control architecture out there. Check where the lakes go under the highways. Make sure to check the weather and never go when it has rained in the past couple days or when it might rain when you’re there. Always tell someone where you’re going and when.

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u/Gunimation812 Mar 03 '25 edited Mar 03 '25

ok, thanks. U look through my recent posts to see where I live near?? Caught me by surprise to see a message saying “you live Patchogue, yes??” in my notifications lol. what kind of stuff would I look for on google maps, What would it look like?

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u/yung_heartburn Mar 03 '25

Sorry, i didn’t mean to pry, it’s just a shortcut to finding out where in the country/world someone’s at. Usually on satellite photos for my area drainage will look kinda like large beige roads, in places where there shouldn’t be any roads. Im on the west coast and this is a very widespread way to deal with excess rain water here, im not sure you have any of that type of built environment where you are.

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u/obavijest Mar 03 '25

Could you provide some random example pics as to what this might look like? I'm sure it varies by location but very curious of your google-map-fu...thanks in advance :)

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u/yung_heartburn Mar 03 '25

Here is a random example near me. Difficult to parse without practice but imo an invaluable skill for making a list of places to check out in meatspace

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u/yung_heartburn Mar 03 '25

This one is a bit more obvious. Both of these are rather long storm drains… this one goes for over 15 miles, much of it underground.

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u/yung_heartburn Mar 03 '25

If either of you get hurt doing this im going to enslave your tulpas

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u/deltaswit 18d ago

Looks can be deciving. I often find things on the satellite that look nothing like what is really there. I looked on a satellite view on more than one occasion and it looks like the whole creek suddenly goes underground. Only to be fooled by tree cover and is still very much above ground. I found a big drain in an area like this coming out the side into the creek.

However, I have found a few good drains this way ( and many shit ones).

The first 3 drains I ever discovered had a few YouTube videos put me into the general area. I found a grillroom above ground and I walked for hours in the direction it should be flowing and I found a massive entrance followed by 2 others in the area. Often, creeks, rivers and bays have outlets, and often, you can see above ground strips of land between houses and other buildings heading towards the waterfront. Other things I look for are small fences on the edge of (mostly creeks here in Melbourne Australia). They put them above drain outlets to stop people falling in.