I was awoken early this morning by my sump water level alarm going off. After some investigation, I believe that my sump discharge has frozen due to recent low temperatures.
I've verified that the pump is still functioning (Disconnecting the pump discharge in the house shows that it is moving water at high pressure. When connecting the pump discharge to the pipe that leads out of the house, water stops flowing.
My sump discharge is run under the basement foundation, then underground for about 300-400 feet, then pops out of a small mound on the side of a slope. When investigating the outlet this morning, I found it completely covered with snow, and no signs of water leaving the pipe.
I've tried running a snake from outside (Into the house, but it hits something hard (Assuming ice) about 1 - 2 feet in).
Specific Questions
- What is the typical way that a sump discharge is setup in freezing climates?
- What can I do in the short term (While ground is frozen) to fix this issue. (I currently have it running into my septic system, which I assume will mess that up in short order).
- What is the correct long term fix for this issue?
Additional details if required
- Home was built in the last two years, and up until this point I would have said that I never have water in the sump.
- There are two pipes leaving the mound, the smaller of the two is the sump outlet, the larger is what I believe to be connected to the sump vent (Air vent out of the top of the sump pit) (But I have not verified this).
- Running electrical to this location (For heat tape or something similar) would be difficult (Especially with the frozen ground), due to the long distance from the house.