NH ,lack of snow causing septic problems

[plowking]

We didn't get the storm we needed today. I'm getting calls for septic systems freezing from lack of insulation that snow cover provides. Systems that have little water use or little hot water use and septic system located in shade seem to be freezing first. Some suggestions are to cover septic tank, leachfield with mulch hay, manure, composite, tarps, etc. to try to replace insulation factor snow provides if lawn is freezing above septic. Newer house systems seem to be shallower with less soil covering the system. Houses that are vacant for short time can freeze from no water use. I have to use blowtorch and boil water on tank covers to thaw them out, there is danger of igniting methane in tank if heating cement cover directly with open flame, I know from first hand experience years ago. plowking

 

[scott_vt]

Mornin Plowking,
I wont dispute the lack of snow in the NE this winter. But it seems strange to blame the prevailing weather conditions we are experiencing on septic problems I would think that if the leaching fields are at the correct depth for that particular local, they would function fine providing there arent any other problems ? In my Vt home, we usually consider 4 ft for foundation footings and sonotube to prevent problems with frost. In Ct we use 2 1/2' as a guide. Am I missing something ?

 

[DANOCHEESE]

Couple of years back we had the same issue in Wisconsin. No snow and frost drove in to about 6 foot depth. rumors of 9 foot in some roads!!! Tanks were freezing. Tanks with low use do not have the bacteria (bugs) count to generate enough heat to prevent freezing. We were able to free one up with a couple bags of charcoal. Some stayed froze until spring. Remember hot water freezes before cold water. Low use is what gets these systems. They do sell a box of bacteria that can get a tank started with bacteria growth. Don't know if it works, probably not if the tank is partialy froze. I guess you could do the old flush a chicken down the toilet trick!!! Also tell the home owner to watch ouit what they are using for kitchen cleaners. They will kill off the bacteria fairly quick.

 

[midlf]

Remember hot water freezes before cold water.

I would be very interested in hearing how/why hot water freezes before cold water. It would seem if I put two identical 5 gallon buckets of water, one filled with hot and one filled with cold, outside around here in SE WI, they would both freeze but the hot would freeze later by the amount of time it took for it to cool off to the temperature the cold water started at.

 

[DANOCHEESE]

The Mpemba Effect: When Hot Water Freezes before Cold

The Mpemba Effect: Hot Water Freezes before Cold - Succeed in Physical Science

I use hot water to thaw out lots of things. I probably should have left that out. They are trying to steam a water tower open out in South Dakota today. The thing sprung a leak and now the inside is freezing.



I love winter.

 

[midlf]

Very interesting article. Basically it appears they are saying that different conditions will affect the freeze rate. Some of these are obvious, others not so obvious. It appears a better statement would be "UNDER SOME CONDTIONS it is possible for hot water to freeze faster than cold water."

 

[Raddad]

Eat more fiber.

 

[DANOCHEESE]

try this

Take a cup of boiling hot water outside and throw it up into the air during cold weather such as we are going to have this weekend. Now do the same with a cold glass. The hot water will turn into snow/sleet the cold will probably make it to the ground. Something to do with the molcules. Some guy who wears a white lab coat probably could explain this.

Now how do they keep water towers from freezing???

 

[tallyho8]

They say it was discovered in 1969 that hot water freezes faster. In 1955 my mother used to boil water (then let it cool) before she put it in freezer trays in our Servel gas refrigerator when we needed ice in a hurry. We could not save ice because we had no seperate freezer and the freezer in this refrigerator was very small. She said boiled water freezes faster than regular water and she had learned this many years ago from her mother. They were both just poor country girls from the Ozarks and this was just "common knowledge". To teach us, she got 2 ice trays and filled one with tap water and one with room temperature boiled water and put them on the same shelf in the freezer, side by side, and when we checked them an hour later, the boiled one was frozen solid and the tap water one was only partially frozen. Scientific proof? Probably not. Proof to her children that their mother was honest and wise? Definitely!

 

[johnk]

Wow,

A Servel Fridge. I used to work on those years ago. I remember holding the lever down after lighting the pilot and waiting for the click. Thats how the Clickson valve got its name. I remember all the soot and yellow in the kitchens above the vent... They worked well though and there are still some out there. Great for cabins with no electric....