Leaving house with septic system over winter
A question for those who live on acreages with septic system in Cold Areas.... We are just going to move onto an acreage and am wondering if my system will freeze up. My son will be staying there...
Forum Discussion
Yes, septic tanks can and do freeze, but having said that, it should be fine if someone is staying there.
It mostly has to do with how long a cold snap lasts and what's over the sewer line or tank for covering. In winters when a cold snap hits early in the year and there hasn't been a decent amount of snow to insulate the ground before the cold gets to far down in the ground is when there's problems. I've seen a lot of city water pipes and piping to fire hydrants piping freeze when this happens. For those that don't know, the water is not up in the hydrant itself. There's a valve down about ten feet deep where the hydrant pipe tees off of the main water line.
Sewer lines often freeze when someone leaves a faucet dribbling water. What happens is the dribble cools off to the point that it freezes before it reaches the tank. When you take a shower, do wash, flush a toilet, etc it put a bigger slug of water down the pipe all at once that will reach the tank before it freezes. The slug of water also warms up the pipe enough for the last of the water also makes it to the tank before it freezes.
Never had a frozen line or tank myself, but I've helped thaw a few.
Bill
It mostly has to do with how long a cold snap lasts and what's over the sewer line or tank for covering. In winters when a cold snap hits early in the year and there hasn't been a decent amount of snow to insulate the ground before the cold gets to far down in the ground is when there's problems. I've seen a lot of city water pipes and piping to fire hydrants piping freeze when this happens. For those that don't know, the water is not up in the hydrant itself. There's a valve down about ten feet deep where the hydrant pipe tees off of the main water line.
Sewer lines often freeze when someone leaves a faucet dribbling water. What happens is the dribble cools off to the point that it freezes before it reaches the tank. When you take a shower, do wash, flush a toilet, etc it put a bigger slug of water down the pipe all at once that will reach the tank before it freezes. The slug of water also warms up the pipe enough for the last of the water also makes it to the tank before it freezes.
Never had a frozen line or tank myself, but I've helped thaw a few.
Bill
