got all the way down to a big ol' 1*F degree the other day though so close really close
... lol thinkin' of metric units of ten , blah blah blah .. reminds me of a kid and his brother I went to school with
both born with an extra finger , so six including the thumb on each hand
I said to him one day .. figures , docs cut it off , playin god like docs do
all the while they're actually screwing up GOD's update to HIS plan .. you know , make 'em think in units of twelve.. make 'em just a little smarter as a group....
its funny a week ago it was
- 30 something with da windchill and maybe a foot of snow , and we were talking about ooooooooohh maybe its a bit tooo cold to go ice fishing . And now a week later , it thaws , rains and all the snow is gone . Last night my Trini Chick parked at an odd angle in the laneway . so I hadda go out and move her truck for her , in flip flops an pajama bottoms . No coat shirt hat ha ha , But it was still kinda cold ha ha
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I,m as cool as Milner , but axeually a bit more like Beckwith
We're doing a reno on our house. A week ago it was o' and colder than a nun's nipper in our family room because I'd already removed the woodstove. Yesterday I had the walls completely open, insulation removed, siding and ten-test peeled from the outside and replaced with plywood, installed new windows and gas fire-place......it was 54'.
Perfect weather.
Welcome to winter in Ontario.
59 degrees here in Fort Erie yesterday. Snow took a real beating and we have green grass showing again. The birds and squirrels seemed especially pleased with the weather.
59 degrees here in Fort Erie yesterday. Snow took a real beating and we have green grass showing again. The birds and squirrels seemed especially pleased with the weather.
I guess that's why they call it Ontario's "Sunny South Coast" eh Larry?
winters back. Heavy freezing rain here today. Won,t be going out in this weather. Drove in it years ago in my 55 Chevvy just a bit after i had the body done and painted. Had just left A & W on Lundys Lane and got up to about 25 MPH when a car coming towards me braked to go in to A&W and he lost it. Took drivers side off of my car. I was pissed but what can you do in a situation like that. Never till this day have i driven in freezing rain.
COLD ?? _-- I'm the ( not-so ) proud owner of a Frozen Septic System -- All attempts so far have failed -- Guess it will become a Holding Tank , until Spring -- LATER -- DON / Fleet 51
You just not putting enough heat causing material into the tank. We just replaced our bed two weeks ago because the header collapsed. No tank in creation will be sufficent to act as a holding tank for that long unless you divert grey water to a grey well. Ours filled in a week. Had to pump it twice before the work was done.
COLD ?? _-- I'm the ( not-so ) proud owner of a Frozen Septic System -- All attempts so far have failed -- Guess it will become a Holding Tank , until Spring -- LATER -- DON / Fleet 51
how old is the system? it hasn't been near cold enough, long enough for that to happen to a system on a typical house hold. maybe on a new system installed late in the fall or one that was pumped out fairly late where it hasn't had enough time to get percolating but not on one that has worked proper for awhile. best guess, something was introduced that killed off the enzyme's if it worked proper before now. good luck
HI GUYS : Thanks for the comments -- I have to assume responsibility for the " initial " freeze-up . I got a little too carried away with the snow removal , and uncovered much of the tank , which is about 1 foot below surface . Since the freeze-up , we have pumped it down about 1/3 , then sent 25 ft of PEX tubing , connected to the hot water tank , down the first leg of pipe out of the tank -- Ice all the way . We then hit a solid stop -- assume it to be the top header of the tile field . but up until now , no flow out of the tank .
QUESTION : If the tile field has not sunk ( 40 yrs ) , there should not be any water in it , to freeze -- RIGHT / WRONG ??? As PONCHO said , it always melted the snow above the actual tank ( until now ) - HUGE dilema -- Appreciate all of the input !! --- LATER -- DON / Fleet 51
When I get my tank pumped, every 3 years, the tank refills again within a week, like Warren says. I had mine pumped this last fall and added some yeast to get the bacteria going again.
I do have a bit of an issue. It is slow draining it seems. It keeps up, but the level is about 6 inches too high. It may have always been this way, I never really noticed before. In the spring, I am going to shove a garden house through the outlet to the field and blast some air from my compressor in there. I think the problem is that there is no filter on my outlet and a bunch of TP got in there......You know women and TP, right?
HI PONCHO : Thanks for the reply . We have been socking the yeast to it regularly , and more so since the freeze -up . A " country " neighbour offered me some animal manure to " get it going again " , if I want some , so in the meantime , I guess I will be spending my allowance on pump-outs-- ( Starting Monday ) Again , THANKS to ALL !! -- LATER ---DON/ Fleet 51
Guys, there should never be any solid moving into the "exit/weeper" lines, well unless that tank is totally full from top to bottom with solids.
A functioning septic should pretty much never freeze. The bacteria and as someone already said, the enzymes create there own heat.
Those tanks are huge and way below frost. Sure the cap and such might be a foot below the grass, but the tank bottom is prolly 8 feet below that.
There's a "T' that's connected to the output(weeper), vents on the top and is about 5 feet or more under that exit to the weepers.
The solids stay up top and kinda put the pressure to the water underneath to push that water out to the weepers.
I know. Sounds like a backward siphon and I still don't understand it, but it works.
Had to deal with mine a few years ago. Easily a 60 year old system, all concrete, even the "T" ! I replaced the T with PVC to the outlet. There is a cleanout cap between the T and the weeper start. I sealed the new pipe to the old hole and then connected more PVC with a reducer to the damn clay tiles (weeper).
When I poured my concrete driveway years ago, I had no Idea there were septic lines under there. I had to hand dig under one of the pads, an easy 6 feet down and 3 feet across to find good clay tile to latch to with the plastic.
Very terrifying experience being under a huge concrete pad cause I always think worst right.
Anyway, the tanks will fill up almost immediately after being sucked out. It's really only the top that needs to go anyway.
I'll see if I have any pics of my horror show so it might make more sense to you.
This is all totally just learned from my own, so I'm not saying I'm a Septic Professional guy.
I couldn't flush a toilet and have a shower in the same DAY back then.
My daughter was having a problem with the drains in the house being very slow.
I thought the septic tank may be full. Called the man and he pumped it out and
we tried the drains. Again, too slow. He probed into the drain line from the house and found gravel.
After digging down to the drain line, we found the septic tank was about 12" away from the pipe.
Apparently the tank had moved toward the hillside 30' away.
Only 3 things should go down the toilet. P,P,P.
Pee, Poop and toilet paper.
lived in the same house for 48 years , never had an issue with the septic tank ,, never had to have it pumped , nothing
never froze , hell the top of the tank WAS the center of the patio at the back door with the patio stones laid flush (pardon pun ) around it
was great we used to get 2/3 - 3/4 of the water bill back because there was no return water to the city system
off topic but something to look for in older houses
look for a fuse or breaker for the hot water heater
if you CANNOT FIND ONE
..you probably are on the old flat rate wiring system that was to be done away with
the fuses are under the hydro meter and you have to call hydro to yank the meter , change the fuses and reinstall the meter
at no charge
that flat rate line.. DOES NOT GO THROUGH YOUR HYDRO METER
so as the flat rate deal was discontinued it seems we probably had free hot water for a very long time..
house is still hooked up that way now too
similar story here as djd, pretty much been on a septic system in one location or another for as long as i can remember. i can still barely remember an outdoor 2 seater anymore, mid 50's ??. when i sold the farm in ivanhoe 20 years ago the new owner wanted a pump out and some info on the system and it was a learning experience for both of us. been here now 20 years, where t.f. did that go, had it pumped to replace the original system with a 2-300gal tank with one cast line out running 20-30ft into a big hole filled with gravel. a buddy and myself replaced the system over a weekend under the radar sort of thing using our 2 back hoe's. when i added the addition to the old house the health dept wanted an inspection of the system due to 2 more bathrooms and when he seen a newer plastic tank he wanted a look at everything as they had no records of it or anything including the well for that matter. i played the dummy saying it was here as the old lady who i bought it off was passed, that didn't work. lol i kept the tank and replaced the tile bed again, when the guy was digging up a new tile bed he knew what was up and gave me a good deal knowing all i needed is his signature on a certificate saying it is now legit and recorded. i had the well upgraded and certified also, 26gpm. had to get a hold of one of the old girls sons who grew up here to tell me exactly where the well was as it was in 1 well tile and covered with a vent pipe running up a corner of the house. now i have 2 certificates, one in and one out, lol.
-good luck to you don/fleet and here is hoping it is only a freeze up.
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-don't know if this relevant or not. i have always had a garberator on my kitchen sink for as long as i can remember. if the donkey's or the barn cats won't eat it, it goes down the drain. you would be surprised how much goes down to feed the system rather than the garbage can.
Only issue I ever had was the inlet getting plugged up from using powdered laundry/dishwasher detergent. Undissolved powder lumped up hard like concrete and plugged the line. Took some work to bust it out. Switched over to liquids and have had no issues since. Good Luck
Did any one in the house have chemo therapy? If so the tank is dead as chemo will kill everything.you will have to have the tank completely pump and wait for spring to get the field bed to start to work
Did any one in the house have chemo therapy? If so the tank is dead as chemo will kill everything.you will have to have the tank completely pump and wait for spring to get the field bed to start to work
I do not know why when they do chemo that they do not tell the people that they will have to pump the tank as it kills the septic system. And yes I know people that had the same problem.
40 years - it is most likely plugged solid in the septic field piping with the black oozy stuff called "matt" , or from vegetation roots that accumulates over time.
You aint flushin it or removing it.
Time for a new bed - given most only last 15-20 years these days due to matt growth.
you did not say if it was a trench bed or septic bed.
being 40 years - most likely trench bed as filter beds didnt hit main stream until early 80s
trench beds are the worst for plugging up especially from vegetation roots
ok, getting back to the winter part of the post, 31f/1c as we speak on feb.22, 6:30 pm. there is only one thing i would really like to know---where did the winters go? it might just be that i am an old sled head but i seem to really judge a winter by the miles i/we could of put on from our front doors. anymore they are afraid to leave because there is a good chance of not enough snow to get home, i know a couple of groups who had to call for trailers just last year and some odd years before that. i haven't rode now for some years as i smashed my hip in a fall and spent 6-7 months in and out of the hospital, but i/we use to put 7 to 8k miles a year on and pretty much most of them miles with a great big grin on, lol. pssst, that's just about as good as a hard on today. lol this getting old and broke down sucks at times, but, i do believe in living better chemically, lmao - the original thread started as "winter", then it kind'a went into the toilet from there, lmfao, i had to. but what i am also finding out is i have a base line to be a judge on our winter's in this part of ontario, and it is changing.
Winter, septic systems....prosthetic fingers, doesn't matter what the post started as Shag. It was just too quiet here and I was trying to get people talking, lol.
Winter, septic systems....prosthetic fingers, doesn't matter what the post started as Shag. It was just too quiet here and I was trying to get people talking, lol.
whats up with this thing don, did it come back to usable with the warm-up? a buddy in the construction biz mentioned a bit ago that there was 3 to 5ft of frost this year around here in places. just curious is all.
