I assume that running water used to run through that big old rusty pipe but it stopped functioning; and therefore a newer system was installed next to it.
Or something! It’s hard to figure out these makeshift systems in place here sometimes. It could be something else entirely.
That rusty paper-stuffed pipe looks as if it could’ve been a toilet drain, too. With the old toilet paper still left inside it! Haha!
Thank you, Steve 🥂