Below The Tank our drainfield is Freezing why and how can I fix it?? The pipe. Above and below. Including the tank are standing water but thawed.

Are you talking about your sewer lines ? how old are they ? is the ground really froze there?

Must not have much snow ?????

About the only thing I can think of is straw or hay bales stacked on top with tarps over the top. Was just talking to my wife about this as we only have about an inch of snow here that might not be enough insulation if this cold lasts much longer.

Good luck!

Moosetrot

How can you have standing water at that temperature ? Where is it coming from ?

Is the pipe that is freezing a drain pipe that comes out of the ground?

First thing I would do is stop putting water down the drains. Could it be the outlet of the tank that is frozen rather than the ground over the drain field ?

It's below the Tank... drainfield ...and yes little snow

How old is the system? Have you had trouble in the past? Do you have long grass over the drain field to catch snow? Straw sounds like a good idea, if not enough bales to cover the whole area, you could set up some snow fence to corral it then bust up the bales and fluf it up.

Never asked if it's a mound or gravity. Never hurts to add bacteria either. All this anti- bacteria crap can't be good for a system, or bleach.

So is the 'standing water' backing up out of the vent pipes ?

Sounds like the straw might be a good idea.

Yes.. White's correct...it's freezing up and out of the lower vent pipes sticking up in drainfield Bellow tank... Thanks for the advice, I'll get hay tomorrow over the area.

Do you have a lift tank or is it gravity ? Real drain field or seepage bed ?

You might consider getting the tank pumped in the meantime

I had a buddy who made his own steamer to thaw his waterlines (steam is better than hot water if you dont want to get wet with sewage water...dont ask how we learned that he used a pressure cooker pot and some very small diameter pex piping slipped over the vent, just feed it down the cleanout pipes in each direction, and thaw the blockage. Heat traces in the tank seem to help too, anything to warm it up and keep the heat in.

I have a gravity system...that's all I know, a longer than normal run from house to tank...they did that to get to a stopping sand Hill for the drain field.. don't know what type of drainfield but left and right 4" pipes coming up. White, they tell me not to pump tank out now or it will freeze harder.

I might talk to the designer tomorrow...

I agree with White also. I have seen that happen before when the temps stay so low for so long and the ground doesn't have snow cover. Good luck when extremes happen so does the problems.

Yeah I can see that. Any liquids in there should be generating some heat

I would go and buy some septic blankets and then cover them with added straw and insulate real good.

I would be inclined to pump tank and by the time the tank filled up your drain field may thaw as the ground below is warm and if you insulate and over do it the field will thaw I think.

I also have made a steam tank and it's very simple. And you could run some pex down your drainfield lines and thaw it out. Also you could hook up a nipco and force heat down your clean out pipes. But make sure you insulate first. If you need help with steamer pm me

Make a big bon fire over where its froze.

Anyone use horse manure over their lines?

If you have standing water in your drainfield you probably had drainfield issues before the freezing started. A properly working drainfield will generate it's own heat with bacterial decomposition. If you have thawed standing water in the drainfield your filter bed has probably been plugged for some time but you are only noticing it now. Same thing happened to my mound system a few years back. Only 7 years old but filter bed plugged, quit taking grey water and started seeping out the top. Septic man said they would need to strip off and rebuild the mound ($15,000). Long story short, I tried a septic tank aerator first and it fixed the problem.

don't pump tank in winter !!!! tank should be putting off a lot of heat sure wife didn't kill tank with cleaner bleach ?

Yep, standing water in the tank and drainfield says tank is putting off plenty of heat. May not be a freezing problem.....yet.

Black landscape fabric might catch sun's heat and still provide venting. Straw/hay will insulate from atmosphere cold but if already frozen it won't do much to thaw.

Thanks for all the help ...

One Question...the septic guy told me boiling heavy Salt water to melt the ice...after pouring down gallons of rock salt water now I see when I Googled it on a Minnesota State website that it says one of the four Biggie's is not to use salt but they don't tell me why???

Snow is a good insulator, When I can I use a snowblower to blow as much snow over the septic field as possible to keep the system from freezing.

I would think the change to salty water would likely kill off plenty of bacteria that are doing the dirty work of breaking down the sewage. People do things like that all the time to take care of the immediate problem not realizing that they are letting raw sewage seep back into the ground water where it can be pumped back as tap water.

Clark

I have a "mound system" and as a precaution I stop mowing the grass over the drain field about Labor Day to give it more cover in case of an open winter, as we are experiencing right now.

You may be trying to melt something that is not frozen. You said earlier that you have liquid water standing in the tank and drainfield pipe. That sure sounds like your filter bed is clogged. If the filter bed was frozen the water in the drainfield pipe above the filter bed would be frozen as well. Frost starts at the surface and goes down.

After the Holiday today I'm calling the septic builder from 21 years ago...might be able to trade him ADC work for his professional help.... maybe, thanks for all the ideas everyone.

21 years is a long time for any system. If he tells you that you need a system rebuild,you might want to check this out.
https://www.aero-stream.com/septic-sewage.html
Might sound too good to be true but it worked for my system.

still trying to warp my mind around vents on a septic system

There are several routes you could take depending on funds, availability and conditions. Insulating the ground with hay, straw, snow etc will hold in the existing heat in the ground, but not add heat, making for a slow thaw. A faster solution is to either heat the ground or heat the lines from the inside.
Heating the ground can be accomplished with a bonfire like Boco said, or by renting ground heater blankets. They are used for thawing ground for winter dirt & concrete work, and should be rentable from a construction equipment outfit. Or you can make your own with a bunch of electric heat trace zip tied to a grid (like a pallet or old bed spring), laid on the ground and covered with insulation.

Heating the inside of the lines can be accomplished with a steam jet (either hired or homemade); a hot water jet (messier but effective), or a solid electric heat probe, also available from some rental outfits. Although the solid probe depends on being able to get it to the frozen section. I believe most RotoRooter contractors now offer steam jetting. A quote might be worth it.

Regardless of how you get it thawed, like others have said this is just a symptom of a larger problem, as a properly working drain field should never have standing water that can freeze. I’d recommend you remedy that ASAP this summer.

@ cotton, most drain field “vents” are more commonly called “clean-outs” or “access holes,” for pumping and testing the system, not actually venting. For example... for seeing if you have standing water in your system! And most septic systems have them, though they may be capped below the sod.

I'm dealing with the same problem myself. You need to find out where the freeze is at. Mine was frozen in the line coming out of the house. I covered it with a lot of hay and I plan on tarping it as well mine seems to be working now. First time in 25 yrs., for this. It sounds like yours might be in the drain field since your back up is coming out the clean outs. I think Jacks is on the right track or at least his idea is what I was going to try next. I was going to try a stock tank heater as well if the tank is freezing. If you are close to me let me know if you need a hand I'm in Wright County.

My outhouse is working just fine! The only cold weather modification I made was to carve a Styrofoam seat to avoid instant hypothermia upon sitting down.

Pete

Beware of the cobra head as winter wears on! It is sometimes necessary to take a 2x4 and knock the head off the cobra so it doesn't get you when you sit down.

hate to hijack this post

@ cotton, most drain field “vents” are more commonly called “clean-outs” or “access holes,” for pumping and testing the system, not actually venting. For example... for seeing if you have standing water in your system! And most septic systems have them, though they may be capped below the sod.

here the only way to pump or even check a tank system is to dig and open the tank lid.
a pump system will have a way to check with out diging atleast in the first tank.