Hello All-

I have a loop plumbed to receive a water softener. Can anyone tell me what the extra pipe is for?

Thanks in advance..

 

That is new, I would question if it goes to anything because if it did once the loop is cut nothing is going to feed it!

But then again, there it is!!

 

No idea. My only thought is that it's capped off inside the wall and just used as a support. *shrugs*
I think you may have to open the wall a bit and see where it goes. Or just cut it and see what happens (after turning off the water).

 

Im betting a plumber with a sense of humor!

 

Michael, were you able to find an answer elsewhere? I am having the same situation, the soft water loop is exactly like yours.

My guess is that it’s for drainage, but then again why would it be connected to the loop in the first place? It would have been better just on its own.

Just got a water softener and have spent hours trying to figure it out online without much luck. Don’t want to cut the pipes without having everything figured out first 😞

 

I was always told by our engineering consultants that a water softener should soften all water except outside hose bibs and the kitchen cold side. It would be a very weird way of doing it, but could the 1/2" pipe be going to one of those?? Otherwise, I'm at a loss.

 

I found the information in the link below. Could it be that someone connected a drain into the loop for some strange reason? If that 1/2 pipe is supposed to be the drain then I think at this time it must be plugged up.

Maybe someone expects that when the softener is installed, the loop gets cut and the softener drain gets connected to the 1/2 pipe – and then the drain is unplugged at the outlet wherever that is. That’s assuming it’s the kind of drain with an air-gap or something like that at the other end where it could be capped.

Just got a thought! Could it be someone wanted to ensure that the drain works properly, so they connected it in the loop, tested it, and then plugged it or closed it for now? I don’t know if that makes sense though.

I guess that’s all a little crazy because why wouldn’t someone just cap the drain as in the picture. That is much more straight-forward and I don’t see why that would require any more work.

https://clearwaterarizona.com/loop-vs-full-line/

Just a new thought: if I'm not mistaken the drain line (if that's what it is) MUST have an air gap where it connects to the house drain. I'm pretty sure that's correct for sanitary reasons (I have an air gap on my AN Filter drain). Anyway, I think you should try to follow that pipe and see if it is in fact a drain. Just 2 more cents!!

 

You guys are on the right trail I think. In my new home build, that smaller center line is indeed the drain, and it's pre-plumbed up and over from the garage to an air gap built into the drain for the washing machine in our utility room. I haven't yet confirmed if there is a cutoff valve in that line but it certainly makes sense that the drain has to be obstructed somewhere so the water supply can be operated without an installed water softener system.

 

I can confirm that the 1/2inch pipe is for drainage. It will likely have an air gap wherever it leads up to (laundary room in my case). I had issues responding to this thread earlier, however I was able to complete the water softener install a day after my initial comment and I have had no issues so far!

 

Glad to hear you figured it out!