Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Septic system freeze issues

Anyone else having issues with the cold weather we are having? Septic started backing up last night, just had the tank pumped in Oct, all I can think is the Leach lines might be frozen, walked down the hillside where I always see moisture seeping out of the ground where I am assuming the lines end and don't see any moisture. What doesn't make sense to me is last year it was 10 to 15 degrees colder and had no problems. Guessing iam going to have to have the tank pumped again to buy time till the thaw next week. Any experts here with ideas?

No possibility of a blockage[other than ice]?

Might be air locked open the lid to the tank

A big wad of toilet paper can plug the baffle on the inlet line to the tank. One fix is just poking it with a stick once you get the lid off. You might be able to get a snake through the line if you have a cleanout close enough.

Got any small kids? It's amazing what they can flush down a toilet.

Have you had a change of laundry detergent or toilet paper?
Had grandkids staying with you or something?
Wipies getting flushed unbeknownst to you?
Don’t laugh, with a problematic septic that stuff matters.
I hope you get it straightened out. I’ve been in your shoes.

Nothing frozen but we’ve had so much rain the tank wouldn’t drain and had to have it pumped. Had the septic guys seal off the tank better with tar rope and cover it with a tarp.

I personally have never heard of a septic system freezing, could have a collapsed line, or a blockage.

if you have moisture (septage) at the end of the lines you have additional problems. likely with no place for black water to go all the lines are frozen.

Yeah, if you had visible moisture seepage before, your leach field was probably already failing.
How old is system? Built to code?

Had a shallow drain field I had to keep protected or it'd freeze every winter.

A few bales of straw busted up and covered with a cheap tarp cured the problem.

You can get electric concrete curing blankets and thaw the area quickly if ya gotta.

Better if ya can rent them, they're a little spendy

The t at the top of the tank could be froze

Flushable wipes aint.

Just having it pumped could be your problem! The bacteria and waste decomposition creates heat ….as least that’s what I understand! After pumping, you don’t have as much bacteria at work. Just a thought! memtb

It shouldn’t be seeping OUT of the ground . That’s the problem

Id bet something is blocked. How cold does it get have to get for the ground to freeze down there?

How deep is the leech? I have a septic and leech, as do my neighbors. We get 20 to 40 below each winter. Nobody's leech freezes. Maybe a pipe in the house is plugged. Could the pipe between house and septic freeze? I'm in Fairbanks, Ak.
Do you have a clean out pipe sticking out of the ground, near the house.

Here are some things I did after reading a study by Texas A&M.

Never let laundry water into septic system because there are so many synthetic fibers these days it binds with bio mat and forms a plastic that clogs and will be there forever. Look at the stuff in the dryer lint filter.

To prevent a backup on the days Murphy’s law dictates is the worst day, put a y pipe with a cleanout plug inline before the tank somewheres where you can afford to let your chit drain whilst you enjoy your holiday. I did two mainpipe cleanouts and one y pipe between the house and first tank.

Use two tanks before the drainfield. My front tank is a dual compartment, only the front compartment would ever need to be pumped if ever needed at all.

Always mark where the tanks are and install risers.

I did a 2,500 square foot drain-field that was extremely deep with mountains of river rock gravel.

This my friends is called a “sewer system” so do it right, Chit or get off the pot !

I have one particular grandson that seem to clog the drain every visit. That dude evidently liked to use about a 1/4 of a roll of paper every time he went to the can. He is grown now and I do not have that problem.

Our tank started giving us trouble a couple of year's back. It turned out to be the filter. The service guy took the filter out, hosed it off, and everything has been good since. I'll probably give it a cleaning my self this Spring.

Tree roots. For some reason those little bastards like to wait until ball freezing cold weather to poop on your parade.