fosse sceptic functioning or failing ?

[steve cormack]

a truly awful job has been on my list for months ! but with guests in the gite at the weekend i decided to fix the dodgy concrete cover and seal it up to avoid nasty smells drifting onto the terrace.
when i opened it -to my surprise it was full - we had it emptied about 4 months ago.the top was fairly crusty and solid ! yuk

can someone please advise if this is normal or not as we have only recently moved to france.
nb we dont use bleach or any products containing bleach.

regards


steve

[A_Redman]

LAST EDITED ON 13-May-04 AT 04:42 PM (BST)

It sounds about normal to me. If the water that is draining out clean then should not be a problem. Try search on 'fosse' for more descriptions/advice.

If they are functioning correctly then you cannot tell the diffrence between them and mains drains.

[SaligoBay]

I really can't believe you have a sceptic tank.

[Moorejw]

Are you sure that you have a fosse septique with a drainage bed? I think you might have a fosse etanche - maybe with a leak! Do you know what the capacity is, is it big enough to cope with your house and a gite? When you emptied it was it just a concrete box, or were there dividing baffle plates between the two halves, and do you know where the outlet pipe and vent are???

John Moore (17)

[Michael]

Sounds quite normal to me.,if its an old fosse septic tank it should have two compartments.A coffer dam separates them.one contains the waste the other is unsolids!!then on into the screen or french drain or what ever.I would be very concerned if the scum was not up to a foot from the top.all fosse septics work on the same princable.happy plumbing, or in your case happy rodding.