Are my pipes still frozen???

[Joe SixPack]

We have a guest house on our property here in Northern Minnesota. We haven't used it in a couple of years but now, last February we have turned the heat back on. We have not been able to get any real water to flow since that time.
We have pulled the pump up and the filter is fine, we have run the pump with the pitless adapted out of the well casing and we get plenty of water when we do that.
At times when we have the pump on we get a pencil lead thick stream of water out of a faucet with a bunch of gurgling from the pressure tank. Other times nothing? Where the water enters the house is through a slab foundation inside the outer wall next to the bathtub also on the outer wall.
The wife took expanding foam and had filled in much of the void that was there as during -40 below weather it was starting to freeze up-a couple of years ago.
Could this still be frozen where it comes through the slab? Is there anything other than time I can do to get the water going again/sooner?

[joed]

Not likely frozen. sounds like the line to the house is clogged with something. Open the pipe at the closest point you can where it enters the house and see what the flow is.
If the pipe was split maybe the foam has enter the pipe and filled it.

[Bumblerazz]

Agreed. The ground and thus the pipe is no longer frozen.

If you have plastic pipe, the expanding foam may have crushed it, or some other object. For example, if the pipe runs under a driveway time and vehicles may have crushed it.

Another possibility is that there is a large crack in the pipe leading to the house, therefore no water is making it there. How deep is the pipe buried? If less than 6' then it is very likely that the pipe has frozen at one time or another, especially in areas where there is no snow cover. If there was water in it at the time you can almost guaranty that the pipe is split, probably in more than one spot.

Out of interest, how long do you let the pump run when checking if the water is working. I ask as gurgling in the pressure tank, or hot water tank, can mean that water is filling the tank and hasn't had enough time to reach the tap. A hot water tank can take as long as 5 minutes to fill, depending on flow, and you will not get any (or little) water out of any other tap until this is done.

[Joe SixPack]

We have shut the water off to the hot water tank. At times it has started to fill it. Ever so slowly.
We are going to dig down next to the house not quite under the slab and see if the soil is still frozen, we wil then if needed heat the soil and leave it exposed to speed the process?
We are still getting frost and a few nights with a touch of snow this last week. The wife was raking a week ago and found ice under about an inch of pine needles in the yard. More proof of global warming!

[Bumblerazz]

Frost at night shouldn't have an effect on buried pipes. Below 6' the earth will retain an above freezing temperature all year 'round.

Exposing the earth around the pipe will cause the pipe and surrounding soil to warm up, but I highly doubt it's frozen. If you can dig it, it ain't frozen! :)

Another thought crossed my mind is that if you have any large trees nearby the roots may have wriggled it's way into the pipe (if plastic), blocking the line and causing it to leak. That or a connection or joint has come disconnected.