Will salt affect a septic tank?

[Mgderf]

I know this sounds like a crazy question, but I'm about at my wits end.
I have a problem with plugged drains in a house.
I've run an electric eel drain snake down the 4" clean-out just outside the house.
I get 48' and come to a HARD blockage.
I located the septic and removed the cover. The tank was completely full, all the way to the top, with solids standing on top of the inlet pipe.
Called and had the septic pumped. It is now completely empty.

O.K. Run the drain auger up the inlet line from inside the septic tank.
I get within 3 feet of the area where I get stopped from the house side and hit the same blockage.

Running the auger back and forth, and then cramming it into the drain and it will grab hold of something and stop spinning.
When I pulled the snake back out I had ICE on the head.
I believe the drain is frozen under a driveway. The only saving grace being that where I stop this time is, as I said, within 3 feet of the spot from the other direction.

I really don't want to dig up the drive only to find the line is just frozen.
So, my question is, if I put rock salt down the drain to melt the ice, will it adversely affect the septic tank?

Since the tank is empty, shouldn't it be easy enough to "re-start" it, since it is empty?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[HoughMade]

I hope not or else the back flush from my water softener 3 times a week will be a big problem.

 

[Bfish]

I don't see this being a problem. It sounds like eventually you may want to dig that up and put your pipe a bit deeper so it won't freeze again. But I don't see the salt killing off the bacteria you need in the tank. Some guys pump theirs too much and have to restart them anyhow... And people push tons of salt like HoughMade I see just wrote because of water softeners and things... You should be good to go. But your problem will only be partially solved until the next time it freezes.

 

[Mgderf]

I hope not or else the back flush from my water softener 3 times a week will be a big problem.

I saw several like responses elsewhere online, but thought I'd try somewhere I know at least SOME of the participants aren't complete lunatics.
I do appreciate your response.

 

[Mgderf]

I don't see this being a problem. It sounds like eventually you may want to dig that up and put your pipe a bit deeper so it won't freeze again. But I don't see the salt killing off the bacteria you need in the tank. Some guys pump theirs too much and have to restart them anyhow... And people push tons of salt like HoughMade I see just wrote because of water softeners and things... You should be good to go. But your problem will only be partially solved until the next time it freezes.

Understood, but I believe this incident may be an anomaly.
The septic was completely full allowing water to stand in the pipe, I believe long enough to freeze.
Now that the tank is empty, and the pipe should be running free, I'm hoping it won't have a chance to freeze.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

I would be more tempted to just run hot water down the line to thaw it out. Even adding some drain cleaner would help, since that generates heat as it works.

If the problem was a blockage at the tank, then once you thaw the line you should be fine, but if the tank was backed up because of a blockage in the leach line, then it will back up again once the tank gets full again.

One thing most people don't realize is that it's best for your septic system if you have it pumped out every three to five years. That keeps the solids down and helps your leach field to last longer. One big thing that leads to septic system failure is when the solids build up and spill over into the leach field. Once the leach field gets loaded with solids, it may never work well again.

If you could run a hose up from the tank to the blockage and let water run against the ice, that would melt it pretty quick too.

 

[CathyInBlue]

How about draining a clothes washer into a septic system when the load has used a dose of chlorine bleach? Does that harm the septic bacteria?

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

How about draining a clothes washer into a septic system when the load has used a dose of chlorine bleach? Does that harm the septic bacteria?

I'm sure it kills off some of the bugs, but if you consider that the washer probably doesn't have a high concentration of chlorine to begin with and then it goes into a 1500 gallon tank full of stuff, the relatively small amount of chlorine gets oxidized pretty quickly.

It takes around 2ppm of chlorine to disinfect otherwise clean and clear wastewater treatment plant effluent. The more solids in the water, the more chlorine it takes to kill bacteria.

 

[17 squirrel]

Your tank will fill up again until it reaches the level of the pipes for the leach field.
Maybe pour a few gallons of good winter grade windshield washer fluid down a drain pipe and give it a few hours for the alcohol to melt the ice.

 

[WilsonMD]

I wonder if RV antifreeze would thaw it? Isn't it non-toxic?

 

[IndyGunworks]

I don't understand why you wouldn't just run some hot water into it.

 

[Jeepster48439]

If you could run the auger along with the a hose, from the tank side of the blockage, you should bust through quickly.

 

[Mgderf]

I don't understand why you wouldn't just run some hot water into it.

Drained a 50 gallon water heater attempting just this.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Drained a 50 gallon water heater attempting just this.

Did you run the hose to the blockage?

Regardless, no, salt won't really affect your septic tank in the long run. It will eventually be diluted down. It MIGHT adversely affect the grass or plants on your drain field in the short term but it's unlikely since you just pumped the tank, by the time it fills enough to hit the drain field it'll be diluted pretty well.

In order to hit seawater concentration you'd have to put about 400lbs of salt in a 1000gallon tank.

 

[Porter]

Salt will not hurt anything, put some (couple gallons) Rv antifreeze down the closest drain wait until it goes down. If it doesn't happen tomorrow with the warm weather you might look into a root head for your auger depending how old your system is clay pipe used to be very common and would allow roots through the joints over time.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Salt won't hurt. Sodium Hypochlorite (chlorine bleach) is deadly to a septic tank. I'd think if you just had the tank emptied but the pipe was frozen, the pipe might still be frozen, but if you've hit it with hot water, there may be something else blocking it. If your auger won't go through, you may well wind up having to dig it up.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Or wait a week? Its well above freezing now.

Better yet, climb into the pit and work the clog from the other end.

 

[PapaScout]

I would have thought heat from the tank wouldn't let the line freeze that close to it.

How old is the main line going from the house to the septic? I had the same thing (minus the ice) a few years ago and the main line had collapsed/disintegrated.

 

[PistolBob]

See if you can hire this guy:

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

Sodium Hypochlorite (chlorine bleach) is deadly to a septic tank.

As they say - The dose makes the poison. A 5 gallon bucket yes, but a handful, not so much.