When to 'turn the fosse on' ?

[Alfa]

We have now gained permission and a reasonable devis for one of these 'super-thunder-sting-with-extra-turbo, bells and whistles' zeolite fosses.

We are delighted to have the opportunity to purchase this new source of enjoyment but a question has arisen:

We anticipate installing the said beast in September but we do not envisage making a 'deposit' until well into 2006 (lots of work to do installing plumbing etc,).

So: if we fill the tanks ( one main tank and 2 zeolite filters) with water - (to stop them rising out of the ground, apparently) - how long is it before we need to actually 'use' the thing ?

Is the biological bit actually supplied with the plastic hardware ?

Will it die if not fed properly (hopefully on Coquilles St Jacques and decent Chablis in years to come !).

Does the system need regular use ?

It feels like having another child all over again - how do I look after it properly ?

Alfa.

 

[Motorhead]

Hmmm.......not quite sure how to answer this but here goes.

The bacteria need 4 things in order to survive and thrive:

1) Abscence of stuff that kills them eg antibiotics, strong bleach, paint, chlorinated water etc.

2) A decent temperature (20-40 degrees centigrade is optimal for most species).

3) A constant food supply

4) A means of getting rid of their waste products. This often means another genus eg nitrosomas eats amonia and produces nitrite which is then eaten by nitrobacter and so on but eventually an outlet from the tank (the epandage) will be required or fermentation will occur.

They don't need much in the way of oxygen. Even many of the species that are ostensibly aerobic can switch to operating anaerobically through a process called facultativity.

Without food they can't survive for more tha 2 months at normal temperatures although you can retard this by refrigeration (chilling slows down their metabolisms) or by dehydration (many species can exist for years in a kind of suspended animation when dried out).

You don't say whether you're going to be around whilst the plumbing is going on but if you are, why not connect a cheap brico bog to the pipe and flush it with a bucket? Failing that the best course of action would be to pump the tank out and then refill immediately prior to commisioning.

Now for the tricky part. Don't quite know what you mean by a zeolite fosse or even zeolite. There's loads of different kinds of zeolites. Is it clinoptilolite by any chance?

I am assuming that zeolite fosse means that there is some kind of ammonia removing filter somewhere in the system so is it?

1) On the vent pipe - complete waste of space.   Or

2) At the outlet end - could be usefull if your soil is not all that free draining and maintenance is a bit lax.   Or

3) At the inlet (and I would hazard a guess that it is). Now the theory behind this is very elegant. The zeolite (and clinoptilolite is by far the best kind for this) adsorbs the amonia and provides a safe harbour for aerobic bacteria to reduce it to nitrate. However for this to work at all efficiently you would need to first separate the liquids from the solids then move the liquids into a holding tank and then trickle them down slowly through the zeolite in the prescence of a lot of oxygen. Now I am not an enginneer I'm only a biologist so it's hard for me to imagine an engineering solution to this.

I'd be very interested to get more (lots more) info on your system.

[Dave&Olive]

the enginers answer:- throw in a dead sheep .

               Dave

[Motorhead]

Hi Dave

Did you ever find out where your pipe went to?

[Dave&Olive]

errrr in a nutshell no!!!!

            we come out knowing we had to fit a new fosse but think it will be this year than next as planned.

read all your posts on drainage tests ect. very impressed you could have saved us €400 just got to know what forms in French to ask the mayor for

                dave

 

[Motorhead]

It's called a demmande d'assainissement non collectif or a fiche de renseignements en vue de l'installation d'un dispositif d'assainissement individuel.

If you've already forked out 400 euros for a survey get your moneys worth and have the guy do the form.