fosse septique

[jo buckler]

we have had our tank emptied once since we have had our property, but it now needs doing again.  the man we used before did it as a 'foreigner' and we now believe that he has moved away. can anyone help - what is the procedure for getting these tanks emptied - do the council do it or is it done by private companies.

[Teamedup]

Touching wood, but we have been in this house for 21 years now and never had our tank emptied. I was under the impression that a well looked after tank rarely required emptying, so I was wondering if you were putting bugs in your tank on a regular basis to help it work properly.

 

I would look in the yellow pages, or ask at the Mairie and see if they can recommend anyone.

[Dick Smith]

It's done as a commercial transaction. Look in pages jaune under 'vidange'. You may get some garages (offering oil changes) but it should be obvious as some companies (not garages) will offer vidange fosses or assainisements fosses.

You don't say how long ago the last emptying was - are you certain it is a fosse septique and not a tranche? They are popular in rural areas as farmers can slurp out the gunge and splatter it all over the roads, getting a bit on the fields if they are lucky. If a fosse, are you priming it with bacteria - we use Eparcyl, one sachet a week or whatever it says on the pack, more when we are going back to UK or when we arrive. We've had no problems in 4+ years.

[passiflora]

I had to get our fosse septique urgently pumped out a few weeks ago and duly arranged for a proper firm to come and do the work.  They let me down two days running and I was getting desperate. In the end someone gave me the name of a local farmer who came two hours later and cleared it out for us.  I have since found out that a lot of farmers will do this so it is worth asking around.

Not sure where the effluent went though - think there will be some good crops soon!

CaroleS (16)