How do I prevent septic line freeze up?

Started by kalstar, March 30, 2015, 07:53:15 PM

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kalstar

House septic line froze this winter. Septic looks like it might not me down deep enough. Any thoughts how I can prevent this from happening again?

rick91351

Couple questions come to mind.  One:  Do you drive over 'supply' line? 

Two:  Was this a normal year as far as snow and winter cold?   
Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.


kalstar

Line is not driven over and this year was both colder and had more snow then the last several years.

Don_P

More snow should have insulated it if ice didn't drive down. Short of going deeper you can build up over, or insulate over it. Buried foam boards or even leaves or straw over the main line would be where I would start.

Ernest T. Bass

Isn't it kind of odd to have a septic line freeze up? We had one that was actually not quite buried where it left the house skirting, and it never froze even in our UP winters. Seems like you'd have to have a slow trickle of water leaking through the night or something. I guess some people do that on purpose, but otherwise I would think that the wastewater would be warm enough to prevent freezing.

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rick91351

#5
Quote from: kalstar on March 31, 2015, 08:38:36 PM
Line is not driven over and this year was both colder and had more snow then the last several years.

WOW, that is weird!  I was going to suggest exactly what Mr Don_P suggested.  Around here it is not that uncommon if you drive or walk over it a lot and or there is not any snow.  Snow of course, makes a great insulator of sorts.  I guess colder trumps more snow sometimes.  So if you can not go deeper or want to maybe see your luck next year leaves and or straw and foam boards. 

Good luck   
Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

JRR

Is it really freezing?  You can answer this question by digging a small diameter hole near the drain and inserting a sample plastic pipe, 1" dia or so, sealed-capped on the bottom.  Pour a bit of distilled water into the pipe.  Close the top of the pipe with a removable cap.  Now with a dip-stick, you can probe to see if you have ice.

flyingvan

Find what you love and let it kill you.

rick91351

Quote from: flyingvan on April 01, 2015, 11:03:24 AM
http://septic.umn.edu/factsheets/freezingproblems/

Thank for the post will have to save that for the next time someone has this problem.

I know one place up here that had that problem and they were sort of stuck with it short of blasting.  The there is a basalt - lava cap on more basalt lava sub strata and then above that it was impossible it add any more fill because then in the spring thaw the water would have been in the mobile home.  So they gave up  moved back to civilization and scrapped the mobile.   
Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.


kalstar

Thank you for the responses. Very much appreciated.

garyc

Quote from: kalstar on March 30, 2015, 07:53:15 PM
House septic line froze this winter. Septic looks like it might not me down deep enough. Any thoughts how I can prevent this from happening again?

Sounds like your line is not draining all the way or holding water. You need to check to see if you have a low spot in it. The best way to check this is have plumber with a camera that is on a cable. A lot cheaper than digging up your line .   
If it wasn't for bad luck . I would 't have any luck at all.

kalstar

I plan to dig up the pipe anyway.  I quess I will use foam board to cover the pipe before re-burying, do I box all 4 sides or just the top and sides?

JRR

I would think the top is most important ... and the wider you make the cover, the better.

Don_P

exactly, besides insulating from the frost above you are trying to gather the earth heat and contain it under the insulation.


kalstar