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Frozen septic

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HootisMN

01-23-2004 08:44:17

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Any one else have a frozen spetic?

Any good solutions.

I have a cardboard box and tarp over mine with a heater inside.

I ahet winter!!!!

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deano

01-25-2004 02:32:06

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Re: Frozen septic in reply to HootisMN, 01-23-2004 08:44:17

the leach field lines are probably 3' just guessing. yeah we get that 6-7' frost stuff too, but if septic is working properly, stuff goes downhill you know.....

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BarryinMN

01-24-2004 21:06:18

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Re: Frozen septic in reply to HootisMN, 01-23-2004 08:44:17

From what I understand the new spec requires 3' of good dirt below septic box. Mounds must mean the holes were not dug deep enough to add 3'- rocks etc. Then pipe angles up to tank & that is where the line freezes. 12" leaching lines wow! We had frost line down 6'-7' in some areas last Winter.

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deano

01-24-2004 16:34:14

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Re: Frozen septic in reply to HootisMN, 01-23-2004 08:44:17

are you sure yours is frozen, or plugged? after further thought, my wife and i lived in our garage for about 5 years before we built house. The sewer pipe ran perhaps as close as 4-6" from surface as it exited garage. the inlet depth of sewer tank was and is approx. 1' from surface..it never froze, and we never had problems. i did cover the pvc with pink insulation before lines were buried. if your tank inlet froze, is there enough slope, bacteria in tank (did you have it pumped.). i hope you have luck thawing it.

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dean duluth

01-24-2004 16:11:44

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Re: Frozen septic in reply to HootisMN, 01-23-2004 08:44:17

i'm surprised too that your septic froze this early..do you have one of those mound systems, the "environmentally friendly, superexpensive, and rarely work right"? Last year, i bet over half of people i knew with mound systems had theirs freeze, and had to pump onto ground..i thought they were supposed to prevent pollutio00n! anyway by monday 12-18" snow is comin so don't think it'll be like last year....

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GunNut

01-24-2004 09:28:32

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Re: Frozen septic in reply to HootisMN, 01-23-2004 08:44:17

This is just a thought....would covering the pipes with hay/straw bales (sm type) help any? It might be a cheap way out.

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Kirk MN

01-24-2004 05:41:36

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Re: Frozen septic in reply to HootisMN, 01-23-2004 08:44:17

Yea What a hassle! You are in for one Looooo ng winter. If it is the pipe to the tank which is freezing you might want to consider the new in pipe heat tape. They work very well and use about 8 watts of electricity per foot. Just a suggestion. Hope things work out for ya!

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T_Bone

01-23-2004 23:18:19

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Re: Frozen septic in reply to HootisMN, 01-23-2004 08:44:17

Hi Hootismn,

You might want to read about how to shock night crawlers out of the ground then apply that to frozen pipes. Careful that you don't kill someone.

When spring came, I would be looking at adding some backfill if possible or adding straw bails and a ground sealed tarp next fall.

T_Bone

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RWK in Wi

01-23-2004 18:10:19

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Re: Frozen septic in reply to HootisMN, 01-23-2004 08:44:17

There were a lot of frozen septic systems last year - very cold and no snow for insulation. Since it is early for that kind of problem are you sure the tank is frozen? It is more common for the line to the tank from the house to freeze. Does the line run in an area that is plowed, shoveled, or driven over? If so that is likely where the line froze. Some plumbers have the equipment to thaw the line. For future to prevent it is possible to dig up the area and put several strips foam board over the line . You could also burry a heating cable in the trench below the insulation to provide some heat if it happens again.

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Dean Martin

01-23-2004 15:39:55

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Re: Frozen septic in reply to HootisMN, 01-23-2004 08:44:17

Hic!...I've never had any problem with mine...Hic....

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stan

01-23-2004 13:53:40

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Re: Frozen septic in reply to HootisMN, 01-23-2004 08:44:17

Eat more chilie peppers

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marlowe

01-23-2004 09:49:03

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Re: Frozen septic in reply to HootisMN, 01-23-2004 08:44:17

if your drain field is frozen then you wait till spring. if tank is frozen you can open that up with lots of heat but by then your drain field will also be frozen. if your out in the country and no one close you might just have to pump it on the ground it's about 99% water anyway. we had lost of people doing that last year because we had no snow cover

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Dave_Id

01-23-2004 09:39:05

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Re: Frozen septic in reply to HootisMN, 01-23-2004 08:44:17

I have never heard of septic sysems freezing up..I guess you just have to move away from Minnesota like I did. I'm from St. Cloud originally.

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paul

01-23-2004 22:28:10

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Re: Re: Frozen septic in reply to Dave_Id, 01-23-2004 09:39:05

Oh yea, the new specs are to have the laterals no more than 12" deep. And as you know from being up here, frost can get to 5' deep - water lines need to be 6' deep. We have bare ground this year, no snow on the ground, and now getting 15 below temps. Going to stress a lot of systems up here. Really freezes deep without the snow blanket.

Hate to say it, but next week is forcast colder, so good luck. They were talking about this last week on the local news - the honcho's recommendations are to run a lot of warm water through your system to keep it from freezing.

So much for caring about the enviornment. Dufas'.

--->Paul

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01-23-2004 15:23:45

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Re: Re: Frozen septic in reply to Dave_Id, 01-23-2004 09:39:05

Had a roomate in college from St. Cloud....HIS name was Dave....LOVED fire engines...could do a siren that would pull traffic over. :-)

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Dave_Id

01-23-2004 15:27:35

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Re: Re: Re: Frozen septic in reply to mj, 01-23-2004 15:23:45

That wasn't me... my last name is Theisen. I left St. Cloud in 1968

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