Bobdude

At this point in time we have seen a mediator at the Prefecture, who has written to the Maire. The story is too long to go into detail, but I just wanted to know whether they had to answer to anyone or, as I suspected, they are a supreme power. As the issue has been on-going for 4 years now, I don’t want to drag it out even longer.

Good Evening everybody. I realise that the Maire of a Commune has quite considerable power and influence, but I wonder whether there is anywhere to air a grievance concerning a Maire, an authority that he/she has to answer to?

[quote user="woolybanana"]If you are in an area where there are power cuts, remember the pump will stop so the sink will be out of action for a while. This could cause some waste water to flow back into the sink, I guess. Users of said sink will need to be told this.[/quote] Thank you. We very rarely get a power cut actually, if we do it tends to be just for moments and quickly back on. But good to bear in mind.

[quote user="Lehaut"]And don't forget to put rodding points in.[/quote]Good tip. Thanks.

[quote user="Chancer"]look at your annual HC and HP consumption, the whole year not just the winter months, if your annual HC consumption is not at least half of the HP consumption then you are losing money.[/quote] Good tip! Thanks a lot Chancer!

[quote user="Chancer"]To change what for what?[/quote]To change from HC to normal tarif.

Thanks everyone for some very helpful info and advice. I hadn’t even thought of installing a pump, but it does seem to be the least disruptive.

[quote user="alittlebitfrench"]If you go the pump route (the picture you showed is not dissimilar to ours) remember that if it can pump a distance of let's say 30 metres, if you introduce a 4 m vertical bit in the piping network, the overall distance will be reduced to may be 20 metres. What I am saying is you have to do some maths to work out if the pump will work in relation to your planned installation. If not, you may have to go for a larger pump. If that makes sense.[/quote] Yes, indeed, I think we are going to have to go for a more powerful pump, as the vertical distance from the sink to the loft floor is around 6.5 metres. But from there into the loft, where the 100mm bathroom waste pipe is located, is around a 7 metre span along the loft floor, but that would cause the least disruption to the tenant in the cottage.

[quote user="Tom 58"]As albf says you can get systems just to treat 'grey' water. Look up 'traitements des eaux ménagères' and http://www.eautarcie.org/04a.html[/quote] Thank you Tom. I did look when albf posted, but could only find fosses touts eaux. I will look up the link you have provided.

[quote user="DraytonBoy"]Current cost of our Sanispeed is 550E if bought on the internet. If it were me I'd get a plumber round and ask him if it's feasible to use a pump and go from there.[/quote] Yes indeed. We are looking at options and obtaining quotes. The work has to wait until the current tenant leaves though! I just found this: https://www.tradingdepot.co.uk/sanivite-waste-water-pump-system-6004 Which seems to fit the criteria.

[quote user="BritinBretagne"]My house didn’t have a kitchen when I bought it. Or water. I could put the kitchen and plumbing where I wanted.[/quote] The cottage is small. It was a choice of either having a kitchen in the living room, but I don't like open plan, and it would have made the living area even smaller, or leaving it where it was, in actual fact just a tiny room with a sink in the corner. It's a gite. We have a guest in there at the moment, which only adds to the problem. The existing sink waste pipe hasn't been touched up to now, and it has been fully occupied from 2010 to now, just as it is, with no problems! At the moment, having located the underground pipe and cleared it, the sink is emptying ok.

[quote user="alittlebitfrench"]Ours is not a Saniflow pump. It was sourced by our plumber in relation to the distance the water needed to be pumped.....which is the key point. I don't know what make it is without finding the manual. It was about 700 euros I think. But cheaper than a new floor had we dug down. The pump (quite small) sits under the sink in the cabinet. The pipe runs horizontally (5 metres all hidden) behind all cabinets. Then through a wall. The piping then turns up vertically 2 metres and horizontally again until it turns up again into the grenier. The piping then goes somewhere to an out flow pipe. Brilliant piece of equipment for an old house because often when you buy houses the kitchen is in the wrong place. These allow you put the kitchen anywhere without major renovation. Top ALBF tip.[/quote] Our 'kitchen', as such, is tiny, so from the sink to where the existing waste pipe is, is maximum 2 metres. In actual fact, it could be run up to the grenier more or less directly from where the sink is now, except that it would at some point have to pass through the back wall of the house, which is almost 2 ft thick stone! Nothing is easy in these ancient buildings.

We have an unused cooker socket in the kitchen, so in theory that should be ok.

[quote user="alittlebitfrench"]You don't need a slope with a pump. It will shoot the water up vertically in a pipe to your roof space as Chancer described. That is the whole point of a pump. Ours runs a good six metres up and down, through walls and around angles. If the pipe is in one corner of the kitchen running vertically up the kitchen wall you can box it in there. I'm not sure what DB was describing in terms creating a slope with his pump installation. I do think through that running it around the walls as wooly described would look pig ugly. In terms of cost, a pump would be much cheaper than a fosse. I think though (for best practice) a pump should be on its own circuit which is the tricky bit.[/quote] On t’s own circuit as far as the mains drain connection or on it’s own circuit as far as the upstairs bathroom, which is on the 1st floor, right at the front, then connected perhaps to one of the pipes in the bathroom?

[quote user="woolybanana"]Would it be possible to runa waste pipe along the walls to the other side of the house and box it in?[/quote] I don’t think so. It’s around an 8m run fromback to front, and apart from being unsightly, I wouldn’t imagine it would be possible to get a sufficient slope on the pipe.