NeilCushley

Any advice on the workings and pros and cons of septic tanks and cess pits in houses in Sicily, the Villa we are looking to buy has a Septic tank that needs emptying at the moment will it be better to get this changed to a cess pit for the future time that we live there and for re selling in the future? Any advice please people?

scot47

My experience of these was in the Balkans. I hope somoene with Sicilian knowledge will be along soon !

Note the differences between Septic Tanks and Cesspits

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesspit[/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septic_tank

God bless those who designed and built our sewers which saved us from all this !

modicasa

You nbo longer have the choice. If you dont live on the sea or a water course you must get a fosse imhoff.
Depending where you are the rules are different. Assuming your pozzo nero is regular and registered, some comune require it is emptied every 2 or 3 years. Fosse Imhoff less frequently, but if you renew your pozzo you will have to put in a 2 or 3 chamber Imhoff.

NeilCushley

Thanks guys for the info, guess we will see what the full situation is once we have bought the Villa! The septic tank that is in place now is the type that needs emptying so guess will live with that or get a builder in to quote for changing it over to a cess pit type of system! This is all new to us as we currently live in London so living in a more rural situation with cess pits and water pumped from a well is all new to us and will be a challenge! But we are looking forward to getting out of the rat race and living a more relaxed life in our early retirement!

Pulaski

A "fosse imhoff" is what we have (not in Italy), and depending on the size of the fosse and the number of people in your home, you can likely go many years without having it pumped. It was about 15 years before ours was first pumped (there was no clue that the original owners had had it pumped during the first five years they owned the house), and our neighbour's went for over twenty years before they had their pumped for the first time. That said, there is no municipal code here that requires pumping at a set frequency.

BTW We made a similar transition from London (West Wimbledon) to a rural setting with well and septic system. We would not willingly go back to a home with a chlorinated water supply.

NeilCushley

Thanks Pulaski hopefully all will be fine when we move it's just a bit daunting but you have set our mind at rest with sharing your experience! We have set aside extra cash in case the septic tank situation needs changing but fingers crossed all will be OK! Our estate agent told us the well water is fine for everything including drinking but I think we will try and talk to the neighbours to confirm this? The Villa we are buying is in a small development of about 10 houses!

larryandcaron

We are just about to change our old septic tank which is about 1 metre square,we have been here 2 1/2 years and had it emptied 3 times and needs emptying again but we are taking it to its limit so we can get the new one in and ready to receive before we do,we are putting it in ourselves with the help of a builder with a digger,it's going to cost around 4000 euros with the pump,it's a big one for 9 people as we are opening as a b&b next year (fingers crossed)

NeilCushley

Thanks for the info! We have asked our Sicilian estate agent to get us a price for upgrading from the septic tank that is with the Villa at the moment to a cess pool system which will soak away that will fulfil all the requirements to get all of the relevant paperwork, your costings will give us a guide to if their quote is ok or they are overpriced? We envisage needing a system to deal with 5 people living in the Villa maximum!
Good luck with your B & B plans where will you be based at we may come for a break and visit!

Neil & David.

Pulaski

It never hurts to go a little bigger when it comes to septic systems, because even slightly too small can bring a world of problems. An extra person or two, ground that isn't quite as permeable as expected, or rain that saturates the ground, among other possible issues, can cause a lot stress and expense if your septic system doesn't do the job it was designed for.

uk_grenada

Its one of those things - the beast whose name shall not be mentioned... I would love some local impartial advice, but here, its always 30 something in the day, never less than 20 and quite dry for half the year. In these conditions of i assume pretty hyper microbial action [certainly is for cut down wood, nothing is burned, it crumbles to naught in 2 years] we are told never touch it unless it spews forth venomous things... Though im guessing each chamber is 1.5-2 cu m, and there is only in effect one person year round using it...

larryandcaron

We are in the valley overlooking Lucca,we were hoping to be open this year but waited an age for permissions,our village is called Gignano di Brancoli,casa vista ulivi on facebook

Isakat

The first thing I would suggest to you is to find out from your comune what is the regulation regarding a septic tank.

A pozzo nero is something that is not allowed in many areas. Nowdays, you need an IMHOF which is totally sealed, which will mean no leakage in the terrain.

The pozzo nero, if done well, has one cemented chamber for solids and another with holes in the ground for the water to dissipate. This will obviously need emptying less frequently.

You need to take into account the cost for emptying, which in our case is 360 euro every 2 years.

Pulaski

That's not what the diagrams of a "fosse imhof" show - it's a solid box with a pipe that leads out to a "drain field", such that relatively clear water drains out into the ground and solids are trapped in the concrete tank and either rot. The solids eventually become liquid or collect as either sediment or crust, and will eventually need to be pumped out.

modicasa

A pozzo nero is a generic name for a sewage tank. They can be sealed or run off. A fosse settica, fosse imhoff or fosse biologica is a tank at 2 or 3 chambers which collects the sludge and lets the clear(er) liquid run off into the surrounding land. A sealed pozzo nero - one that needs a 'spurgo' or to be emptied on a regular basis is required when you live next to the sea, next to w awater course, in an archeological zone etc or anywhere where the drainage could have a detrimental effect on the surrounding area. Even fosse imhoff now need to be emptied regularlly ( in some comunes) as its an easy way for the comune to make money and give work to the mayors brother in law who happens to own a copmpany that empties pozzi neri.