I have a question about Biodegradable fosses....The previous owners of my home installed a new Biodegradable fosse. It has taken me 6 years to get the facts about said fosse, as the notaires did not pass on any paperowork when Ibought my home. Knowing that fosses need emptying, i finally contacted the previous owners, who informed that it is Biodegradable fosse,AND IT NEVER NEEDS EMPTYING !. Well I was not content with that response, so I finally managed to get a detailed plan of the fosse,showing the sand filter etc., and took it to the local SPANC office. I showed them the detailed plan ( they had never had a copy until today) and the man there said that Biodegradable fosses do in fact need emtying. So please tell me.... do i get it emtied or not ? I really need to know this, as I have a horror of sewage backing up into my bathroom !
Excellent Article James.
The issue with huge number of French non-conforming fosses has been something that Brussels has been berating The French Government over for many years now. ( As you point out, because of Water Table Pollution Concerns ) The initial French Government Directive to 'solve' the problem was to insist that every commune drew up a plan for instalation of a system of 'tout à l'egout - even the tiny ones - which were grouped into their communauté de communes, and the cost of implementation would fall almost totally on the Communes ( and thus local taxe fonciere payers ! - quite clearly that was never going to happen ) After strong opposition and resistance from the 'Mairies' this was dropped in favour of the system you have described in your article. The 'four years ' to upgrade is very interesting , and this being France, and with the tens of thousands of elderly 'pauvre' in their communes with no adequate fosses at all , I can see this timetable 'slipping' again in true French fashion ! Which 'Monsieur Le Maire' - seeking re-election - is going to insist that his 80 year old widows will have to fork out maybe 4k minimum to get their fosses upgraded ( and thats assuming they need only a new filter bed !) as Caroline says below - a whole new system is likely to be in the 8/10k range.
I can however confirm ( with my 'agent immobilier ' hat on ) that Notaires in our region are now inserting clauses in every new compromis de vente stating that the new owner has to take on the legal responsiblilty of upgrading the fosse ( and often in a time stipulated as 1 year from acte de vente !! .. so buyers beware !) Sellers are being asked to provide an inspection report from SPANC on the current state of the fosse, and a 'devis ' if the fosse is declared 'non conformé " - which most are . The buyer then is shown this report and declares, and signs, that he accepts responsibility . In this way, 'La France' can point out to Brussels that it has set things in motion to ensure that its sanitation is upgraded - by legal powers !!
Now - whether or not the local Mairie will actually ever try and enforce that clause in the sale contract is debatable - but the reality is that the new purchaser will NEVER be able to sell the property again unless he has upgraded the system, as the Notaires will deem the property 'bloqué' unless that clause has been satisfied.
interesting article, thank you. We live in Cernex in Haute Savoie 74, We have received the letter from the Mairie and also now had our inspection the fosse septic doesn't conform! (our house is about 35 yrs old) but we have 4 years to replace. However the incentive we have from the Mairie is if we replace within 2 years we do get financial assistance, I am not sure yet as have not had a definitive quote but we were given a rough figure of around 8,000 to replace, and the assistance is for around 25% of this. I received this week a complicated letter, plan and something I have to return to the Mairie before 23rd december, but not sure exactly what to do, so I shall have to visit the Mairie to try to understand!
So it seems like our Mairie is getting organised early but as I understand it the 4 years commenced after the public meeting and the letter the whole village received which was September 2011. If I find out anything useful I will post it here.
After hearing all sorts of versions regarding this matter it's the first time that a period of 4 yrs is mentioned. Would this be 4yrs from the date of inspection or from the end of 2012 ? Also I don't remember anybody ever mentioning the possibility of financial assistance either, looks like a trip to the Marie's is on the cards some time soon.
It was indeed interesting. We have been hunting for our Fosse Septique for months now, without striking "gold". Our Mairie cannot help, SAUR does not know either and I even telephoned the former owner now running a French Cookery School in Ireland to see whether he knew the location. Nope..... We have checked all the most likely places with a metal detector, again with no success. Ah well; Maïsadour sells a great product that you throw down the toilet to re-active lazy micro-organisms. A sort of Viagra for bacteria lol
interesting article ...many thanks for the info
For those people trying to find a lost Fosse, we suggest you use a metal detector. There may be metal parts used in construction. And if you use a makrogeotek they also detect voids.
Hi everybody,
Does anybody know if there is a government scheme where we can apply to get financial help if we put an eco friendly septic tank in I.e. reed bed. Thanks for all replies.
I cant find any incentives on a google search. Perhaps spanc will know.