# smelly subject



## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

Our original Pozo ***** is leaking 

Now it is the original Spanish type . Perfect timing, summer, visitors blah blah

We will try a temporary fix ( a man is coming!)

Long term, post summer, we will install a proper septic tank ( we budgeted for this when we bought the house two years ago as this was on the list of unknowns)

We would like a three chamber above ground, grey water type

Any links or advice would be gratefully received to get me started on the research phase of this project

Thanks


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

cambio said:


> Our original Pozo ***** is leaking
> 
> Now it is the original Spanish type . Perfect timing, summer, visitors blah blah
> 
> ...


That's the only sort that is now legally allowed - best to check with your town hall or use a local tradesman who knows the rules.

When you say it leaks, they all do - that's how they work. They leach into the ground to disperse any excess liquid.

What exactly has broken?


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

snikpoh said:


> That's the only sort that is now legally allowed - best to check with your town hall or use a local tradesman who knows the rules.
> 
> When you say it leaks, they all do - that's how they work. They leach into the ground to disperse any excess liquid.
> 
> What exactly has broken?


We have "black" water coming up through the surface around the cement cover.

Yes we are going to use local tradesmen we always do, but we like to do our own research so we know what we are talking about


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

How bad of an overflow are you talking about? :rain:ainkiller:


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

cambio said:


> We have "black" water coming up through the surface around the cement cover.
> 
> Yes we are going to use local tradesmen we always do, but we like to do our own research so we know what we are talking about


Simply get it pumped out for now - this should last 'till you have time to do a proper fix.

The cement cover 'should' be removable (somehow).


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

snikpoh said:


> Simply get it pumped out for now - this should last 'till you have time to do a proper fix.
> 
> The cement cover 'should' be removable (somehow).


Thanks Snikpoh

That's what we thought as well. The cement cover is, I am afraid, is about 6 foot by 5 foot We will have to cut a hole in it, and build a new manhole type thingy. 

Any newbies reading, this is why you HAVE to have contingency funds for more than 6 months. Two and a half years down the line and issues can still happen. SO glad hubby had the good sense to budget for the future and put the money to one side. So although not a nice problem to have, at least financially we are covered


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

AllHeart said:


> How bad of an overflow are you talking about? :rain:ainkiller:
> 
> View attachment 67457


It is just a trickle.............

that's life in the campo, have to get on with it really.

We are lucky we have such nice friends here, and already a man has been summoned by a local farmer to review the situation for us


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

Snikpoh

Solution

A man coming with a machine to dig a trench, to create a larger black hole. This should get us through to September when works can start on a new bathroom installation and new pipes to a 3 chamber septic tank


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## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

cambio said:


> Our original Pozo ***** is leaking
> 
> Now it is the original Spanish type . Perfect timing, summer, visitors blah blah
> 
> ...



An "above ground" septic tank? Never heard of that before! We had a new septic tank installed about eight years ago and it works perfectly. It is a two-chamber tank (buried in the ground) which drains into a ditch about two metres deep, four metres long and half a metre wide, filled with special stones (can't remember what they are called, but it is important to have the right type). A neighbour who had a "hole in the ground" for drainage, and who was experiencing many problems, decided that he wanted to follow our example and so asked a Spanish builder to give him a new "fosa septica." The builder dug a hole in the ground and dropped a pear-shaped fibre glass tank into the hole, which in effect just replicated what he already had! Needless to say there was a long-running discussion about the definition of "fosa septica!"


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

The Skipper said:


> An "above ground" septic tank? Never heard of that before! We had a new septic tank installed about eight years ago and it works perfectly. It is a two-chamber tank (buried in the ground) which drains into a ditch about two metres deep, four metres long and half a metre wide, filled with special stones (can't remember what they are called, but it is important to have the right type). A neighbour who had a "hole in the ground" for drainage, and who was experiencing many problems, decided that he wanted to follow our example and so asked a Spanish builder to give him a new "fosa septica." The builder dug a hole in the ground and dropped a pear-shaped fibre glass tank into the hole, which in effect just replicated what he already had! Needless to say there was a long-running discussion about the definition of "fosa septica!"


NO, neither had my husband when I read this out to him, my mistake it is not an " above ground" As you say under the ground.

Our hole in the ground was done very well, and has been here for well over 15 years, our temporary fix will enable us to reconfigure the bathroom in a timescale of our chooseing and have similar to yours, but a three chamber that then discharges grey water over the ground or similar. So I presume your's does not need emptying then, which is what we want to avoid? Maybe every now and again?


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

Cambio, you mean you have something like this, right?









We had one of those too for the house I grew up in. We had to have it pumped out rather regularly because we had such high use of it with seven people in our family. We ended up building another one, to which the first one would drain into, and never had to have them pumped after that.


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## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

cambio said:


> NO, neither had my husband when I read this out to him, my mistake it is not an " above ground" As you say under the ground.
> 
> Our hole in the ground was done very well, and has been here for well over 15 years, our temporary fix will enable us to reconfigure the bathroom in a timescale of our chooseing and have similar to yours, but a three chamber that then discharges grey water over the ground or similar. So I presume your's does not need emptying then, which is what we want to avoid? Maybe every now and again?


The installer recommended that we have it emptied every five years but it has been in place for eight years now and is still working well. I lift the inspection cover every now and then and it looks pretty full but appears to maintain that constant level. My tank in the UK was exactly the same. We lived in the house there for over 20 years and never emptied the tank, and this was in an area where the ground was poorly drained. I think a lot depends on what you pour into your drainage system. The septic tank relies upon bacterial breakdown of solids which then drain into the second chamber as liquid and eventually into the soakaway. If you pour excessive amounts of bleach or detergents into your drains this might impede the biological breakdown process and the solids will not then turn into liquid fast enough and eventually you would then need to empty the tank. It is also important to avoid flushing too much non-degradable waste down the loo!


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## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

The Skipper said:


> The installer recommended that we have it emptied every five years but it has been in place for eight years now and is still working well. I lift the inspection cover every now and then and it looks pretty full but appears to maintain that constant level. My tank in the UK was exactly the same. We lived in the house there for over 20 years and never emptied the tank, and this was in an area where the ground was poorly drained. I think a lot depends on what you pour into your drainage system. The septic tank relies upon bacterial breakdown of solids which then drain into the second chamber as liquid and eventually into the soakaway. If you pour excessive amounts of bleach or detergents into your drains this might impede the biological breakdown process and the solids will not then turn into liquid fast enough and eventually you would then need to empty the tank. It is also important to avoid flushing too much non-degradable waste down the loo!


PS: Also important, of course, to get the right size tank, depending on the number of bedrooms/residents!


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

AllHeart said:


> Cambio, you mean you have something like this, right?
> 
> View attachment 67489
> 
> ...


When, as a child, we lived in the west country (yep, country bumpkin), we had an open septic tank. To avoid accidents, we put a larch lap fence around it.

When the school bus passed by, I can still remember a number of children talking about how rich we must be to have a swimming pool - if only they knew!


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

AllHeart said:


> Cambio, you mean you have something like this, right?
> 
> View attachment 67489
> 
> ...


its basically a hole filled with bricks, gravel sand and soaks away. 



The Skipper said:


> The installer recommended that we have it emptied every five years but it has been in place for eight years now and is still working well. I lift the inspection cover every now and then and it looks pretty full but appears to maintain that constant level. My tank in the UK was exactly the same. We lived in the house there for over 20 years and never emptied the tank, and this was in an area where the ground was poorly drained. I think a lot depends on what you pour into your drainage system. The septic tank relies upon bacterial breakdown of solids which then drain into the second chamber as liquid and eventually into the soakaway. If you pour excessive amounts of bleach or detergents into your drains this might impede the biological breakdown process and the solids will not then turn into liquid fast enough and eventually you would then need to empty the tank. It is also important to avoid flushing too much non-degradable waste down the loo!





The Skipper said:


> PS: Also important, of course, to get the right size tank, depending on the number of bedrooms/residents!



Many thanks

No, I do not use bleach etc and paper is disposed of in a bin. Although not a septic tank as such, we still add tablets to the loo to help with the breakdown of materials.

My husband says, that he read you should work out what you need UE a tank for two people and then double it. He says he will go for a 6/8 person so that it can cope when the visitors are here in the summer, funnily enough they do not come in the winter


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

cambio said:


> its basically a hole filled with bricks, gravel sand and soaks away.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Paper is fine in a septic tank - in fact it can help. 

What is a definite no-no are face wipes, (in fact all similar wipes), sanitary towels, cotton buds etc. They simply don't break down.

We use ecological sachets once a month - these contain the necessary bacteria.


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

snikpoh said:


> Paper is fine in a septic tank - in fact it can help.
> 
> We use ecological sachets once a month - these contain the necessary bacteria.


Really I never knew that, I suppose a Pozo ***** is a different thing altogether.

Thanks for the advice


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

cambio said:


> Really I never knew that, I suppose a Pozo ***** is a different thing altogether.
> 
> Thanks for the advice


Nope - same principles. 

We have a pozzo ***** like you.


The only issue can be if the bacteria aren't working too well. In this case the paper doesn't degrade too well and starts to block up any holes in the bricks etc. Then, when you empty it, this paper goes like concrete and you're on a downward spiral having to get it emptied more and more frequently.


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

snikpoh said:


> Nope - same principles.
> 
> We have a pozzo ***** like you.
> 
> ...


Thank you very much, not a very inspiring topic I know, but I have learnt a lot


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