Most home winter care focuses on specific tasks, such as winterizing the pool or making sure your pipes don’t freeze. While all of these activities are important, there’s another focus you should have: your septic system. Septic problems are common in the winter, and knowing what these issues are and how to deal with them is critical to preventing them in your own home. Let’s take a look at common winter septic problems and what you need to do to avoid them.
Pipes Freezing in the Winter
Your pipes freezing in the winter is still a significant concern for your septic system. If you do not have proper insulation, if the insulation is not at the correct depth, or if the temperatures are just cold enough, your pipes and septic tank could freeze, leading to burst pipes, blocked flow, and potential leakage once the wastewater thaws.
Another concern is water freezing in cracks in the system and then expanding, causing pipes to burst. Taking care to keep pipes properly insulated will go a long way in preventing this in the future.
Over-Saturated Drain Fields
When drain fields become oversaturated due to heavy rain or snowfall, water absorption can be impaired, leading to backups that negatively affect your home. Thankfully, this common winter septic problem isn’t too difficult to avoid. All you need to do to prevent these kinds of backups is to make sure you’re diverting water away from the drain field. So long as you have a system in place, you won’t have to worry too much about this problem moving forward.
Interrupted Bacterial Activity
Bacteria play an essential role in breaking down waste in your septic system. When winter temperatures drop, bacterial activity slows, leading to waste buildup. The best way to avoid this is to use your system as you normally would, keeping that bacteria present and active.
Overloaded System Due to Too Much Activity
When you’re home during the winter, it’s easy to use a lot of water. After all, you’re spending most of your time indoors. Unfortunately, increased water activity can overwhelm the system, reducing its effectiveness. While you don’t have to cut out certain activities entirely, you should spread out heavy water use. This will keep the septic system functioning optimally.
Septic issues aren’t uncommon during the winter. Things like frozen pipes and usage can affect your septic system. Using the guide above, you can avoid these common problems by taking the right actions. If you need septic tank replacement installation because winter issues managed to affect your septic system severely, contact us at Mustang Septic in College Station, TX.