charlie* Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 Should brand new houses now by law have a Fosse Toutes Eau rather than a Fosse Septique?Can anyone please explain the difference- because I'm not sure what I've got ( long story!!!)- I just know we have terrible smells emanating from the kitchen sink after anyone has had a shower! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motorhead Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 Yes.Toutes eau is what the modern types of fosse septique are called because they take all the water from inside the house rather than just the toilet waste like the older type. Sound to me that you have a toutes eau albeit one in need of emptying or some bacteria. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie* Posted June 14, 2005 Author Share Posted June 14, 2005 We have a brand new house, we thought we were having mains drainage but apparently not! I know we have a leach field for some water, and we now have an invoice for a fosse toutes eaux but I don't know anything about them. Should we have such awful smelly bacteria after just a few months? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 If your fosse is working properly it shouldn't smell.You can get the bugs to treat your fosse with from a supermarket or bricolage shop. I think to get it going I would use Bio7 and put a full dose in. All the instructions are on the plastic bottle. You'll just have to be careful in future and do the things we with fosse's do. Nothing down the loo apart from what is passed and only toilet paper that is suitable. And make sure that any guests you have know this too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motorhead Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 Aha!It's not the bacteria that's smelly, you don't have any and that is the problem. The anaerobic bacteria digest all your smelly stuff but they don't come from nowhere. You need to seed a new tank for it to work properly. You can get a bacterial culture in most supermarkets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weedon Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 [quote]Should brand new houses now by law have a Fosse Toutes Eau rather than a Fosse Septique? Can anyone please explain the difference- because I'm not sure what I've got ( long story!!!)- I just know we...[/quote]Irrespective whether you have friendly bacteria working or not, if you do not have a vent somewhere between the house and your fosse or you do not have proper traps on your drain outlets the gas will find an exit through the least resistance...in your case the kitchen sink. Not an expert but learned through my own experience.weedon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie* Posted June 15, 2005 Author Share Posted June 15, 2005 Thanks, I have a sort of bent over plastic pipe sticking out of the ground in the garden, which, I was informed by a neighbour releases the smells, but clearly my sink does it better!I have been putting sachets of 'eparcyl' down both loos weekly. I will now try and find some friendly bacteria.Does being careful about what I put down my sink/ loos/ bath mean that I need to use specific types of toiletries?This is a whole new world to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 Did you ever start your fosse off. I know that with Bio 7, you have to put a huge dose of the stuff down initially to get it going then a regular small dose. Is that how eparcyl works, I have never bought eparcyl. Also you sound like you need more vents of some sort. We have one that goes up past our guttering on the house. In exceptional weather conditions we can get a whiff from the pipe, but very rarely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motorhead Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 Yes one sachet of eparcyl is more of a top up rather than a seeding dose. Personally I would also always use a dry culture , can't understand how they can keep the bugs alive in a liquid culture for long without refrigeration.Your bent over vent pipe should actually be coming (underground)from between the fosse and epandage (leach/drainage field) then back to the house and up the wall so it terminates higher than the highest window and most fosse installers regard this as the houseowners responsibility not theirs.There should also be vents that come from the toilet and kitchen sink and go up and out through the roof. I can email you a diagram of all this from a leaflet produced at my local prefecture.You have to be very careful not just with toiletries, anti-bacterial washing-up liquid is also a no-no. If in doubt don't use anything that isn't specificall labled as fosse freindly. Even users who are on anti-biotics can have a negative effect.This may all sound very daunting but the fact is that humans are very polluting and as a species we must learn to take care of our own waste better. The people who run the public sewerage systems have major problems with all the junk that folk put down their sinks and toilets - and they're the professionals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 I always extra dose our fosse when anyone has been on anti biotics. I wait till the anti biotics should have cleared their systems first though as long as they are only on them for say a week. Fortunately I have never had anyone on them longer than that, but I think I would extra dose if that happened whilst they were on them.I like the 'dry' Bio 7. It is expensive but I think it works well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie* Posted June 15, 2005 Author Share Posted June 15, 2005 Wow! Thanks for all the help. I'm not sure what, if anything, the installer put in the fosse to get it going but I will try the Bio stuff as recommended . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyn_Paul Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 Then think about extending the air vent pipe up the side of the house to the gutter level to help disperse the gas, although it's only fair to add that it's largely methane which is heavier than air, so on a very still day you will still get the odd wiff of it at ground level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motorhead Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 Can't do that if you have veluxes though. As I said before here, the vent must exit at a higher level than any window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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