Monika Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 We are soo exicted, our fosse is being installed at last. (Hang on: Its only a fosse??). But it is frustrating not to be there. Can anybody out there tell me how long the installation takes, does it depend on the weather? Do they usually also dig the connecting trenches to the bathroom/kitchen?I think the fosse consists of a big tank (3000 ltr.) and a filter bed? Thanks for any information on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tresco Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 [quote user="Monika"] We are soo exicted, our fosse is being installed at last. (Hang on: Its only a fosse??)....Do they usually also dig the connecting trenches to the bathroom/kitchen? [/quote]Monika, I was so excited I got the guys to send me photos. Man on Tractor. Mud. HoleI don't know how long it took, but honestly, if someone hasn't thought that you may want it connected to the relevant places, it will go down as the worst example of customer care I have ever heard of, so let us know. Well, let me know. I can still get excited about Fosses. Ours fused all our lights last week. It was great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedrobewan Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 how did your fosse fuse all your lights?need to know!will not sleep tonight or flush the toilet again until I know I'm not in danger of a power cut due to faulty septic tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tresco Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Something to do with the pump. We had to get a new one.I'll find out off OH, he's out and about but I'll get back tomorrow. It's the only 'wet job' he deals with.You can sleep with no lights if the worst happens? Really, it was like the good old days of questions on the forum. We don't see the like of it anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eslier Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Most of the work will probably be carried out in a day. Then they'll probably have to get it inspected by someone on behalf of the commune before it is all covered up, which might even be the next day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monika Posted March 15, 2006 Author Share Posted March 15, 2006 One day: sounds good. Will let you know about the connecting pipes! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tresco Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Toby asked about how our fosse turned our lights off. I now have the definitive annswer. A thing called a 'fuse' did something and then there was a mention of a 'short', or was it shorts?. Can a fuse do something in its shorts that turns the lights off?Anyway, it was very exciting at the time. OH had to go out there and take the lids off. These are lids that of course no French person has ever had to remove for 3, 000 years.Monika, I wish you well, with tubes connected to your bathroom and everything! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeb Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 Fosses usually take up to four days to be installed properly, especially if you are having a sand filter and soakaway. Our installation was inspected several times and it had to be "just right" but unfortunately we still have problems during weeks of heavy rain as it's below the water table.Make sure the spoil (tonnes of it) is taken away if you haven't agreed to have it spread about or left in a heap. A guy down the road had his fosse installed last Spring (he lives in the UK), and came back in August to find a clay mountain. It's still there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ty Korrigan Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 Hello, I installed my own fosse system with a builder mate and so saved some money but not alot....It rained very heavily and so delayed the works so costing me hire time on the digger. Also the stress of doing this for the first time!In fact I saved 1500euros which wasn't a big deal and I still have not covered the sand filter properly...another day with a digger....It passed no problem though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingCenwulf Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Hello everyone, this is my first posting.I have read quite a few postings about a fosse system. How often would an average size fosse ? be emtied - subject of course to 'normal use', what indicates that a fosse is about to be full, and what is the cost of getting it emtied?KC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suze01 Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 Welcome KC,In theory a fosse septique should never need emptying if all is functioning correctly. It is not a holding tank like a septik tank that fills up and needs to be emptied. A fosse septique is basically a large box with 'dirty' water flowing into one end, nature's bacterias breaking this down, and then 'clean' water flowing out the other end into a sand filter bed or soakaway. Over many years there will be a build-up of sludge in the bottom and I beleive there may be new laws requiring a 'vidange' every ten years, but someone can correct me on that. Prices vary for a vidange depending on who does it (an assainissement company or the local farmer [;)] ) but 1-3 hundred euros is about the mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monika Posted March 18, 2006 Author Share Posted March 18, 2006 Thanks for that, I did not know that. Our fosse septique is pretty close to the house and I have visions of strange smells wafting through the air on a "balmy" summer's evening. Perhaps you could also give some advice how to keep the right bacteria alive so no smells can develop. No bleach, I know that, but what else can you recommend? Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeb Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 All our waste water from kitchen and bathrooms go in and we also add Eparcyl every three months to aid bacteria growth. I use a tiny amount of bleach in loos and kitchen sink weekly and don't think this hurts. But no oil, paint brush washing etc.Also remember the three Ps in the loo! Pee, poo and paper (French foose friendly paper) only. No tampons, kitchen towel, nappie liners EVER!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sid Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 We've just a new fosse and filter bed. It took just two days including connection and inspection. The garden looks like the Somme but we've been assured that it will recover.We add Eparcyl every week, but it wasn't made clear whether we should have given it an intial starter dose. No ominous smells so far (2 months).We have a contract with our local council whereby we pay around 32€ a year for inspections and 4-yearly emptying. (That's once evey 4 years, not 4 times a year! [:)] ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sid Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 duplicate post deleted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassman Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 We had a new fosse septique installed before we signed the final act and got the vendor to pay 2500Euro towards the cost,When we arrived I thought we had been left with a mound of soil in the rear garden..... it turned out to be the filter bed [:$]Because the ground is very clay the bed could not go underground and we have what looks like an ancient burial mound behind the house [:'(] just got to find a way of disguising it now [;)]As the existing loo was a disgusting brown/green/gold colour ? that wobbled one of my first jobs was to replace it and a few days later a horrible smell developed in the house, it was coming from the loo but we couldn't figure out why? a couple of weeks later sitting at home in the UK the penny dropped , I hadn't replaced the rubber seal on the soil pipe and the new pan outlet was presumably slightly smaller than the old one so next visit I wrapped some self amalgamating tape around the join and voila smell gone[:)] Last week we found our Breton neighbour coming up the drive with a couple from the nearby village to show them our mound as they having to have the same system installed (it seems we are the first in the area to have it done) and the poor mans face when he saw what he was going to have in his garden was a picture, he turned to me and said " it is not beautiful is it" too true.... it isn't [:(] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monika Posted March 24, 2006 Author Share Posted March 24, 2006 Oh dear, we might well end up with a burial mound as well, because it is very rocky (with the disadvantage that ours would be in the front garden). We are going to see it next week, I will let you know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcazar Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 Ours was done about two years ago, and no probs yet, touch wood.We also have a sort of burial mound in the large-ish back garden, ours is only about a foot high, (300mm), and wifey has prettified it with some bluebells and cowslips on the edges of the bank.Hardly a problem, and better than what we had!BTW: ours was connected to the kitchen water outlet, (sink, washer, dishwasher), but NOT to the toilet, as we first had to empty, (have emptied for us), and remove, fill in etc, the old fosse, which was in one of the barns, then I laid the connecting pipework. We still have no bathroom, only a toilet, but work is in hand to remedy that.Alcazar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassman Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 [quote user="Alcazar"]Ours was done about two years ago, and no probs yet, touch wood.We also have a sort of burial mound in the large-ish back garden, ours is only about a foot high, (300mm), and wifey has prettified it with some bluebells and cowslips on the edges of the bank.Hardly a problem, and better than what we had!BTW: ours was connected to the kitchen water outlet, (sink, washer, dishwasher), but NOT to the toilet, as we first had to empty, (have emptied for us), and remove, fill in etc, the old fosse, which was in one of the barns, then I laid the connecting pipework. We still have no bathroom, only a toilet, but work is in hand to remedy that.Alcazar[/quote] Ours is about 2'6" - 3' high and we are learning to live with it , when we first saw it it looked huge like a mountain, now it's doesn't seem so bad, luckily we have 3,000sqm of garden to play with[:)] Last week my wife threw a load of seeds over it for low growing stuff like alyssum and lobelia in the hope they will make it look a bit better- my idea she's a keen gardner and said nooo they have to be planted in pots and started in the greenhouse then thinned out and potted on etc. etc I said since when did nature supply greenhouses and pots just chuck 'em on if they grow they grow if not [:|] LOL The fosse that was there when we saw the house was just for the toilet all other waste went into the ditch so we would have got pulled for that soon and it made sense to have it done before we took over the house [;)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menace Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 Hi Monica, Can you please advise on the approximate cost of you fosse. That's providing it is being installed in Normandy. I need to have one install soon. By my calculation, 3000 litres will suffice. I have seen kits in the local Brico for 500 euros however, reluctant embark on the DIY route. If yours is successful you may wish to recommend your installer. I am in Vassy (14).Menace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monika Posted March 25, 2006 Author Share Posted March 25, 2006 Hi Menace, our Devis is for 3000 ltr Fosse with Filterbed exactly 2983 Euros (this includes TVA). We had originally applied for a grant (the Mairie encouraged us and gave us the necessary forms). It was agreed that they would contribute 1500 Euros. But I think we have missed the completion date now, as we decided to do the renovation first The firm doing the fosse ist: Gauquelin S.A.R.L. 61100 Les Tourailles Tel. 02.33.66.39.27 Website is: www.gauquelin.fr (The contact person is Patrice). I will let you know if we are happy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monika Posted March 26, 2006 Author Share Posted March 26, 2006 Hi Menace, we are not happy, you can never guess what happened, we just had a long e-mail from our French Neighbours telling us while he was on holiday (and of course we were not there) the "Fosse Contracter" has gone through an unused strip of land which belongs to English people who have just bought the delapitated farm further down and all the land around us, to access our house (why he had to do this is a mystery to us). The English people who have just arrived , apparently are very angry about it and asked our French neighbour for an explanation which of course he could not give. They are talking about compensation and he says that he has informed SPANC (which I think is an agricultural body) of this trespass. So I think I better not recommend this Contracter. And we have to sort this all out, a good start to our new life in France!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monika Posted March 26, 2006 Author Share Posted March 26, 2006 Hi Menace, we are not happy, you can never guess what happened, we just had a long e-mail from our French Neighbours telling us while he was on holiday (and of course we were not there) the "Fosse Contracter" has gone through an unused strip of land which belongs to English people who have just bought the delapitated farm further down and all the land around us, to access our house (why he had to do this is a mystery to us). The English people who have just arrived , apparently are very angry about it and asked our French neighbour for an explanation which of course he could not give. They are talking about compensation and he says that he has informed SPANC (which I think is an agricultural body) of this trespass. So I think I better not recommend this Contracter. And we have to sort this all out, a good start to our new life in France!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menace Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 Oops! sorry to hear of this. Could have been a genuine mistake. It is possible that things may subside when tempers cool down. Menace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tresco Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 They haven't subsided down yet menace. Monika started a new thread about the problem here:http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/651786/ShowPost.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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