Connection to mains drainage

[JP]

Hi all,

We are moving from our fosse septique to mains drainiage, required by the mairie within two years of moving in.  We have just received an enormous quote for €18,000 to do this - seeing as the mains connection is available right outside the house & that what we require, in laymans terms, is the pipes being dug up / replaced & re-routed to the mains connection point  this seems unbelievable.  One item on the quote that we dont understand is the supply & fitting of a fosse relevage?  Anyone know what this is / why we would need one?  Also, any comments, apart from OMG, on the quote!

 

[pachapapa]

Hi you!

Difficult to express an opinion on the magnitude of the quote without having  some idea of the civil works involved.

However a "fosse de relevage" indicates that your dwelling is at a lower elevation than the outfall to the mains sewage connection point.

Assuming that the effluent from your dwelling is raw then I would assume a collection fosse with 1 or 2 dirty water sludge pumps pumping alternately actuated with floats or sensors including a warning system to advise of malfunction and an independent alectrical supply board, etc,etc.  Sounds expensive.[Www]

[AnOther]

Not to mention that once connected the cost of your water per m3 will virtually treble [blink]

[Quillan]

Its a small sewage plant.

We are in the same position as yourself. What we shall be doing is blocking off the 'exit' point of the fosse then installing a special pump with a macerator on the end. I shall then rent a mini digger (for about 100 Euros a day) , dig a trench, lay in the correct size pipe for the macerator, connect it to the sewer outside, lay a power cable in etc, I worked out 3 days hire for the mini digger, the pump macerator is about 600 Euros (from a supplier off the list the Mayor gave us as we have to go 'up hill'), some gravel to protect the pipe and a bit of cable etc. about 1,200 Euros all in. It's the cost of labour that's the killer. Just in case anyone says you can't do that it's 'custom and practice' round here and the mayor is more than happy and it's him that told us to do it this way (I suspect he gets a kickback from the supplier as well).  Anyway he will be even happier as he can charge me double afterwards because at the moment we pay for water 'in' only as we have a fosse. The old mayor tried to charge us for water 'out' as well so I complained and it halved our bill. Round here they calculate water 'out' as being the same as water 'in' but then our water supply is private as it belongs to the village so I don't know how it works elsewhere.

[AnOther]

What happens if you cannot find the money, can they take a lien on your property for when it's next sold ?! 

Precious little chance of mains sewage reaching us in the forseeable future and that suits just fine [:)]

[pachapapa]

There we are all in the clear now. All the details of the civil works explained, so there you are. I presume the cost of the sh1te macerator is included in the "devis", avoids the inconvenience of poling on cold frosty morning.

[Quillan]

[quote user="AnOther"]

What happens if you cannot find the money, can they take a lien on your property for when it's next sold ?! 

Precious little chance of mains sewage reaching us in the foreseeable future and that suits just fine [:)]

[/quote]

That is a VERY good point.

I was wondering if you can get a tax rebate but then thought I would have to have it installed by a professional which will cost a bundle and probably, even with any tax refund, work out more expensive. I would try and do it myself if it were me (well I am having a go anyway). The most difficult thing would be driving the mini digger which I have never done before but am told it's great fun.

[Quillan]

http://www.station-de-relevage.com/index.html

These are the people we are getting ours from as recommended by our mayor. We are having just the pump (Number 411) but you can buy the whole thing as a kit with pump (or pumps) in a replacement tank. Looking at the price for the whole thing to quote €18k seems a bit much, in fact I would go as far as saying extortionate.

[NickP]

I don't see what the problem is, if you don't want to pay out a lot of money including extra water charges, stay with your fosse septique.

[AnOther]

I don't think that's an option, if it's available you are obliged to connect to it.

Logically there has to be some limit on distance of course but I don't know what it is or whether it's a figure set by central government or locally.

[pachapapa]

U can keep your fosse BUT you will pay for assainissement on the basis of your water usage.

Please dont say you got your own well![;-)]

[NickP]

[quote user="pachapapa"]

U can keep your fosse BUT you will pay for assainissement on the basis of your water usage.

Please dont say you got your own well![;-)]

[/quote]

For my information please, why not?

[Chancer]

Because well owners have to pay the commune for water that they dont supply as well as for sewage that they dont treat.

[pachapapa]

Plus well sealed...plus water tested regularly....plus well examined every year.....plus a certified water meter....[6]

[NickP]

Thank you guys for the information. So I better not say anything about that deep hole in my garden that keeps filling up with rain water. [Www]

[crossy67]

Bugger. At least my rainwater storage facility is in my cellar and I am on mains drainage too[:P]

[woolybanana]

Ask the commune about a loan for the connection?

[JP]

Thanks for all of the thoughts, appreciated.  We have just received another letter from the mairie, it seems that they gave us the location of the original 'proposed' connection point to the mains which was by our drive, on the opposite side of the property to our fosse ..... this meant that half the garden had to be dug up to route new pipes all the way around the house down to the drive.  We have now received a tech drwing showing the actual location of the connection point & it is just over our wall, about 10 yds (metres) from the fosse .... a heck of a lot less work.  The only part of the house below the level of the mains is our sous-sol & we only need sink / washing machine waste water pumped out of that .... no need for a mini-sewer plant.  I will get our local chap to install a pump to push that water out (me not Mr DIY!).

No option to not connect, local by-law is that all houses have to be on mains drainage within two years of being sold ... we have only been in since March but given that our fosse has stopped draining & needs to be emptied once a month, we might as well bite the bullet, connect to the mains & not have all the hassle of digging up the drainage pipes to find out where the blockage is. 

Cheers all .... am now confident of a much leaner quote, without the excesses of labour & machinery that we just dont need ..... amazing what people try to get away with & also amazing that, had the mairie not spotted the mistake, we could have had a very expensive & unplanned bit of landscape gardening done for no reason !