Fosse Septique alternative?

[neilfaulkes]

I am renovating a barn. My family will stay there for the six week school holiday and from next year, we will rent it out.

I am a little short of land for a fosse and trench on the most logical side of the property. I can do it but it takes me right up to the legal limit and I don't want to run the risk of annoying my neighbour. I am interested in alternatives to the traditional approach and have heard of something called a bio fosse. Does anyone know anything about these, or any other approaches?

[Stu]

Hi Faulken,

I think you should first of all approach your Mairie to ask what the chances are of your property being connected to the mains. I heard/read somewhere that there's a BIG push for properties to be connected asap.
Don't know how true it is, but if it is, then it's most welcome!

[paolo]

If the trench part, which emits clean water, is nudging your neighbour's land, I would not be worried about that, as it is 'clean' water.

We have very little land and can't have a traditional fosse, so we are obliged to go with a compact Eparco fosse. You can see more on their website:
http://www.eparco.info/Php/Index.php

It is expensive! For us it is the only option though. The tank is bigger (5 cubic metres), and the filter area is very small, so it only needs a very small area to work in.

[Ju]

Don't forget that whatever you do you will need permission, and in order to get it you have to have a geological survey done. The people who do this will be able to advise you on the regulations for which fosse is permitted. Your Marie should have a list of local companies who do the survey. I can't remember how much it costs but I think it was about 250 €.

You have to get the survey done, then apply for the permission, which takes about 2 months, then get someone to do the work. It may be worth contacting companies for quotes first as once the plans have gone in then that is what you have to build.

Ju

[neilfaulkes]

Thanks everyone!

I would be interested to know the cost of an eparco fosse. The deputy mairie is a friend. I will ask him. I beleive the mairie has had a geological report done for the commune, (small commune) but I will double check.

I have another question.

Periodically, the fosse needs to be pumped out. Once the fosse is completed we will be putting in the pool, which will stop easy access for a truck to the fosse (for pumping)

Has anyone seen a fosse being pumped? I need to know how long the tube is that goes from the truck into the fosse.

Cheers

[la vache!]

We have to have our fosses septiques emptied occassionally and they will extend the tube to whatever is necessary. In our case it went about 35m from the road to the end fosse. Not pretty sight or smell!

[neilfaulkes]

That is excellent news! (Not the smell, but the length of the tube.)

In my case it will need to go from the road, through a hedge, over the drainage area to the fosse. I estimate 8-10 metres.

[enid]

I estimate 8-10 metres.

Easy peasy for that distance.

When we bought our house we asked the owner how often a fosse has to be emptied - oh about every 5 years hesaid- and when was this one last emptied? - oh about twent five years ago!!! - finally the inevitable happened and we had to have it emptied - quel horreur!!!

[neilfaulkes]

I promise I will pick a nicer subject for my next topic!

Anyone have a rough idea of the cost of a 4000 litre fosse? materials and labour?

[Alan Knighting]

Faulken,

I don't know about cost but one thing I do know. Don't skimp on it by putting in the minimum size fosse you can get away with.

The previous owner who put in mine did just that and I have to have the fosse cleaned out every two years. The cost is 150€ per visit which includes emptying the fosse and power flushing all pipes. I then have to run a tap or a shower for an hour to recharge the system - that's a lot of water and it's metered of course.

At every visit the fosse man insists that four bathrooms, a poolside shower/WC, a kitchen and a laundry can easily overload the average size fosse. Mine is 4000 and ideally it should be 6000.

Alan

[la vache!]

And make sure that you have enough slope for the sewage to get to the soak away. The previous owner to us installed the tanks cheaply by not spending enough on ensuring adequate drainage. We have to have them pumped out at least once a year, so I'm quite an expert. Hopefully by putting a pump into push the sewage away, the problem will be rectified now.The worst thing was last summer in June, I arranged to get them cleaned out early one afternoon (when I knew everyone would be out, we were fully booked.) The truck broke down en route and arrived 2 hrs late, it had just started the operation when everyone arrived back in the gites. That was really embarassing, although some guests seemed quite fascinated by the operation.

[neilfaulkes]

My site has a very gentle slope, which is good, in that it is easy to position the fosse a little higher than the soakaway, but bad in that it(plus some other things) limit where I can actually put things.

I just need to have a natter with the neighbours, because that gentle slope continues into their garden!

[Ju]

I promise I will pick a nicer subject for my next topic!

Anyone have a rough idea of the cost of a 4000 litre fosse? materials and labour?

I would hazzard a guess at about 4500 to 6000 Euros. But I may be completely wrong.

Ju

[paolo]

The Eparco fosse costs about 10,000 euros, and then you need to pay for installation on top. We have been quoted 8,000 euros which seems a lot. I was told that if we'd had room for a normal fosse the whole thing would have come to about 10,000 euros.

[enid]

My understanding is - well anyway this is what happens in our region - that France has to comply with EU regulations now so everyone installing a new fosse has to have an étude by a professional carried out and it him who determines the size of the fosse - this is certainly true if installation is part of a permis de construire anyway. For us with our own house plus gite accomodation for up to 18 people we needed a fosse of 8000 litres and it cost just under €9000 to buy and have installed - hope that helps!