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Old 02-05-2013, 10:08 AM   #22
Chaselady
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Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Melvin Village
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Default Frozen septic system

The folks on this forum are amazing. Great thoughts and interesting comments. I need to chage some facts. Blue Thunder is correct. If the drain pipe was down 4 feet it shouldn't freeze. After inspecting the tank the discharge pipe from the tank is probably less than 2 feet. Another interesting observation. After the black top driveway was installed and after a cold night back in November, there was a white frost mark running across the driveway just above the drain pipe. Was this the heat from the pipe causing the frost mark?
Also what would be the temperature of the discharge water going to the leach field and what might it be when it makes the transition coming back to the septic tank? Why did it take three months to freeze? Could it be the weight of the heavy trucks and large roller equipment cause the pipe to be flatten? Yet the water running through the weep hole is coming out just as fast it did when the system was installed.
Question? By laying the hay and snow cover, is the frost now trapped In the ground? Would it be better to let the late February sun heat the black top to start the melting process? Last night it was 4 Degrees. Time will tell.
Finally here is how the ice was cleared out of the line. Lamprey Septic Service had a high pressure hot water machine on board. It did't take them 2 minutes to clear the line. They told me that this winter they have had many calls with frozen systems. Much more than any other year. They said most are coming from vacation homes. Second homes don't get used as much and the systems lay dormant. Thanks in advance for your thoughts and comments.
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