I got a phone call from my mother this morning. "Ask internet why septic tank drain land dirty water come back to house." So you guys are officially, "The Internet". Here's what I know. It's a 3 person household with 1.5 baths. The septic tank was pumped out 14 months ago, and it's about 750 gallons. They use Rid-X every now and then to help maintain the bacteria. In 2005, she had new lines installed in the drain field. There are no trees or other big plants nearby, and nobody drives on it. Every now and then, and it doesn't seem that anything specific is triggering it, everything backs up. The toilets overflow- a [B]lot[/B]. Waste comes up in the shower. I hope that's enough info. If not, please let me know, and I'll give her a call.

I have a place on a lake in northern WI that is about 100 years old, and has a well and pressure tank in the basement. The basement is about 8 feet deep, and right now, it is 39 degrees in the basement and 3 degrees outside. I've always drained everything including the well and tank before winter, but am now wondering if I can leave the tank and well alone, since they are in the basement. I've read about building a box around the well/pump, but not sure it would be necessary... So my question is, if I monitor the temp down there for a full winter and it never goes below freezing, can I consider it safe to just leave the well primed and the tank with water in it during the winter? Of course I would continue to drain the rest of the system that is above the basement. Thanks!