Live yoghurt -Will this really work?

[confused of chalus]

The lovely young lady who did our spanc inspection last week asked if we put anything down the loo to activate the fosse. When I showed her the Forex packet she said not to bother with that - it was expensive and live yoghurt would do the same job much cheaper. Is this really true? How often would we have to do it?

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

Sounds like it would.

Guess the thing to do is to try it.

[woolybanana]

Doesn't it work for other things?

[ericd]

Yogurt has live bacteria (Bulgaristi something) that are proper gut bacterias so she is most likely correct.....When young, if our family doctor dished out anti-biotics, we would always have to eat additional unsweetened natural yogurts to re-establish the intestine flora.......I guess our intestines are a sort of septic tank.

[Pierre ZFP]

I've never worked  out how these bacteria in yoghuts and the like are supposed to get to the the intestines where they would be of questionable use anyway.

All the bacteria would be killed off nearly instantly by the stomache, that's part of its job, and in any event, the gut holds about 1.5 Kgs of bacteria so a little pot of yohurt isn't going to make a difference.

The thing to use to 're-activate' your fosse,  if it was remotely likely that it needed it, is brewers yeast, also found of course in real ale.  Apparently its even more effective if it has passed through the urinary system first [B]

[Théière]

[quote user="Pierre ZFP"]I've never worked  out how these bacteria in yoghuts and the like are supposed to get to the the intestines where they would be of questionable use anyway.
All the bacteria would be killed off nearly instantly by the stomache, that's part of its job, [/quote]

The best way is via an enema, now where did I put that funnel [:-))]

[Pierre ZFP]

For all the good that it would do, you might as well stick it up yer b** [:$]

[cooperlola]

[quote user="Pierre ZFP"]brewers yeast, also found of course in real ale.  Apparently its even more effective if it has passed through the urinary system first [B]

[/quote]Now you are talking.  But first to find a decent pint in this place....

[idun]

Our GP's in France always gave ultra levure to us when prescribing antibiotics.

I wonder how much of this yoghurt would have to be put into it to make it work? Sounds like it could end up being expensive.

I have heard that a deal animal in the fosse works, but we never tried that.

[Pierre ZFP]

More beer than you might think. Have a look HERE

I just did a Google search for micro brasserie France and got loads of hits [:D]

[cooperlola]

The problem is that so much of it is bottom fermented.  There's a bar in the Cite d'Europe with its own brewery attached but still it's that yellow, fizzy stuff.  Not bad but doesn't satisfy my craving.  There's a place called "Le Brewery" whose beer isn't bad but sadly I've only found it in bottles round here.  I will, however, Google a bit as you suggest.

[PeterG]

[quote user="cooperlola"]The problem is that so much of it is bottom fermented.  [/quote]

 

That must be my problem then.......

 

 

 

[woolybanana]

I didnt have the heart to do it, PeterG. Poor coops, she will be so embarrassed to give away her little secrets!

Anyway, ladies, don't you use yoghurt if you have blackbird or penguin or somesuch?

[Gardian]

I must say that live yoghurt may well work, but is it worth taking the chance?

The Eparcyl that I use costs (from memory) about €10 for a pack of 26 sachets. Now I only put one sachet down every 3 weeks or so, not the weekly dosage that the manufacturer recommends. This was on my neighbour's recommendation 6 years ago and it has worked fine.

So, roughly 40c 3-weekly, say 15c / week. Not really expensive.

[dave21478]

It just needs some bacteria to start working. Having a shite in it would probably work pretty well.

I dunno.....all the years in UK in houses with septic tanks and never once had to add any magic powders or potions.

[cooperlola]

When I posted that I bet myself that Wooly would be along with a quip in record time.  Thanks to you, Peter, I now owe myself money.[:)]

[Gluestick]

Some interesting information on Fosse Septiques: here:

On Live Yoghurt: Here:

In the past, I have experienced digestive problems after long courses of very strong antibiotics: taking decent live yoghurt can assist in restoring the "Friendly" Flora balance in the gut: best is to take good fresh Acidophilus Bifidus to counteract the growth of Candida Albicans.

I've heard many interesting tales for the best specific treatment for Fosse Septiques: including dead rats, dead rabbits, sour milk etc.

If a fosse is functioning correctly it should need nothing whatsoever.

The Frenchman who first came up with the concept relied on the anaerobic action of the pathogens themselves to break down the solid matter and render it harmless.

[Jonzjob]

Before we moved over we lived in a house on the side of a valley just outside Stroud for 23 years. We had a 2 chamber concrete septic tank that was emptied regularly, well twice. It was shared between 2 families of 2 adults and 2 children each. Our neighbours shopped for what ever they could buy that didn't cost so 'fosse friendly' was definately OUT! We never had a problem with that system and we also had the best Victoria rhubarb that I have ever seen and that was grown on the lower side of that system. One stick that we got from it weighed in at 4 1/2 lbs and was delicious!

I have asked the question several times on here as to just what is the difference between that system that I had in England and the system that I have here? I haven't yet read all of the link that you gave GS on the fosse, but from what I have read there is no difference and all the c r a p we are conned into throwing into our fosse is just that, a con. We have a grease trap here. We didn't have or need a grease trap in Stroud. This one does trap grease and is a filthy job to clean out, but why is it needed?

Here we are looking after the 2 of us with visitors occasionally. There there were 2 families?

But on a lovely note. The 'Honey Waggon' that came that last time to empty the tank had a wonderful sign on the back. It read exactly like this

"It may be sh!t to you, but it's my bread and butter!"

[cooperlola]

[:D]

The company who emptied our cess pit in the UK were called "Sucklifts".[+o(]

We had to empty the thing every couple of months or the stink was unbearable - likewise for all the houses in the area who had no mains drainage either. If we left the emptying a bit longer for any reason, the woman who owned the field at the back of the house would be round with the public health inspector taking samples from the puddles in the road and putting different coloured liquids in our and our neighbours' tanks to find out who the offenders were!  Septic tank systems, as I understand it, can be boosted by replacing the bacteria from time to time, but a cess pool has to be emptied as the stuff just accumulates.

Some people in our area were lucky enough to live in more isolated spots and just relied on the liquid draining out onto the surrounding land (similar to what you describe, JJ) or they had filter beds or Klargester sytems (what we installed in the end) to purify the contents before releasing them onto the land.  Those whose tanks just drained onto the land were, it seemed to me, just allowing their waste products to flow straight onto grazing and/or crops (hence your rhubarb!) or into the water table.  I guess in the middle of nowhere this is fine and no doubt what all our ancestors did before proper sewerage systems?

[Jonzjob]

Not so Coops. Ours was as system that digested it all and worked very well. It definately did not dump any knid of sewage into any countryside. It worked and worked very well... The folks of old knew just what they were doing and the house was the proof of that having being built in 1735 of Cotswold stone...

When it was emptied there was a good healthy crust on the top and some of that was always left behind to grow and work on.

On the subject of fosses. Must go now, lunch is ready, nice brown soup!![8-|][8-|][:-))]

[cooperlola]

So you had what I call a "septic tank" then?  My understanding about the additives for these things is that they really are only needed if you use things like bioligical washing powder etc in quantities which can kill the microbes.  Otherwise, they function pretty well without interference.  Cess pits on the other hand need to be emptied - a real bore if, as they have to now in modern form, they take all the grey water as well, since they fill up at an alarming rate.

I was watching Sarah Beeney's prog: "Help, My House is Falling Down" and one couple had real problems with their drains because years of fat had backed up in the sink waste pipes and rotted them. They put a camera down the drains and it was some sight to see! Is this the reason for grease traps, perhaps - to help preserve the pipes and stop them from getting blocked?

As you say, lovely subject for lunchtime.[:D][+o(]

[confused of chalus]

Well, I only wondered if anyone had any ideas about yoghurt. Amazing how interesting sh** becomes once we get off mains drainage. Our system doesnt have a grease trap, but it does have a basket of volcanic rocks that have to be taken out and cleaned, apparently. It was the first time we'd seen inside in nearly six years. Getting the basket out was hard, cleaning the rocks was not pleasant, but ok. But I dont think we'll be doing it too often.[+o(]

[Jo]

[quote user="Gluestick"]

I've heard many interesting tales for the best specific treatment for Fosse Septiques: including dead rats, dead rabbits, sour milk etc.

[/quote]

...............dead husbands........[Www]

[Rabbie]

After taking antibiotics Yoghourt can help to restore the good bacteria that have been killed off by the AB treatment.

In the same way even a small amount of yoghourt can help to restart a septic tank. Given that bacteria multiply very fast the quantity is not so significant