Can anyone tell me what the Heck this thing is?

It's a century home, with a full basement. This trap clean-out type thing is in the floor, near where the septic system pipe exits the basement. I can get a closer pic if needed.

Thanks!

http://www.bobvila.com/BBS/What_the_Heck_is_this_thing-Basement_and_Attics-1-T4327.html#4327

doesent "old Bob" know?????

My guess that is an old filed tile floor drain
with a bell type floor drain over it...

it could just be a place where a toielt
was supposed to go and has been pluged up somehow

it would be best to leave it alone...

I cant beleive that someone knowlegable as Bob V
has not stepped up to the plate and answered that question

I've seen several instances of storm drain piping in old homes. These were usually run from the base of the gutter downspouts, into the dwelling below grade and tieing into the sanitary through a running trap. The running trap prevented sewer odors from venting at the downspouts.

Bob V ain't got nothin' on TL...

Ok,

So this piece of 'plumbing history' is slowly disintegrating in my basment, and I'm worried that it could cause me trouble in the future, when the basement is finished off. I don't think this is a toilet hookup, as it's ancient, and when it was installed, there wouldn't have been pumps to pump the waste up to the septic tanks. It could be a floor drain, but more recently some drains were installed that run to a sump pump. I think storm drain sounds the most accurate. Since I know that the eaves aren't joined into any king of underground drainage system, do you think it's safe to open this cover up? As I mentioned above, it's slowly crumbling, and if it's not in use, I'd like to put some sort of a plug in it, and maybe cement over it. Does this sound like a bad idea?

Thanks

thing

it looks like a cleanout cover that someone welded a handle onto so it could be removed easily, or at least by hitting it with a hammer.