alan h's activity

As the Monza Grand Prix has been cancelled because of Covid19, have you spoken to your travel insurance company as it may cover the total cost

(I assume you have Monza tickets as proof, and you don't get in through the gap in the fence that I used)

Lombardy, and especially Bergamo  were hotspots for Covid19. 

I have friends who live near Bergamo, and just before lockdown they moved to their holiday home near lake Iseo,  to escape the worst of the virus.

They now go back to their town to shop for elderly mother, but wont return permanently for the foreseeable.   There is no way they would consider going to Bergamo itself - for them it is much too dangerous.

Regretfully,  I'd recommend you avoid Bergamo completely at this time.

(It is a beautiful Old Town - We were there with our friends just before the outbreak hit Italy  and loved it)

An update on the trip down and back would be useful.

I did a Google search on:-

"how to boost cesspit performance"

Gives several things you could buy in UK and take to your Italian house when you next go there.

(Getting hopeful we will manage to get to ours later this year)

One thing that could be well worth doing whilst you are over there next time.

You can buy a product, by a company called WC Net in most large supermarkets that is a fosse re-activator.  Doesn't cost a lot, and you mix it with water and flush it down the loo.  It refreshes the bacteria that work in the soakaway pit  to digest solids etc.  These bacteria tend to die off when the pit isn't used [holiday home/covid restrictions], and should make it last longer without needing emptying [difficult with rocks in].

Also use fosse friendly cleaners, etc., as things like bleach really mess up the workings of a pit

Its a bit odd about it being full f rocks - not something I'd expect.

2 possible reasons spring to mind:-

• Its the way they do it in that area -ask about or talk to a local geometra, who would know how things were done 'in the old days'

or

• at some stage the pit was no longer required [building not used some time after the pit was built?] and it was filled in to stop people falling in, and subsequently the fill [rocks] settled.

Either way, I'd see how it goes with the existing pit for while, as it won't get a lot of usage if its a holiday home just for you, and you don't let it out.

One thing, if you do have to go for a tank at some time in the future, remember it needs good access for installing it and for emptying it.

I agree with Conor (Ronco) about not getting a mascerator.  Too risky with power cuts, (not unusual in the countryside), leaks and breakdowns etc.  If you need to fit a new system go for one that relies on gravity.

If the pit isn't giving you problems, idvjust live with it for now  and probably get a local farmer to pump it out.  That should extend its life considerably.  You don't say if the house is lived in permanently, or just used for holidays.  The amount of occupation, and number of occupants an really affect how effective a pit is.

One tip - make sure you use 'Eco' cleaning materials in the house, so as not to kill off the bacteria in the pit.

Unfortunately, in UK at present - would normally be in my place in Piemonte [near Lake Orta] at this time of year.

Dont expect to get over again this year, as I wouldn't want to fly over.  May drive down at end of year if all is OK by then.

[I'm Shielding at present]

Whst have other properties on the area not in terms of sewage management?  

Hsve you tried getting the pit emptied? Before we went on mains drainage, our tank discharged so called clean water, and when the tank was full it discharged sewage, into the village drain that drained into a stream.  Every house in the hamlet did the same.  The local farmer would pump out the tank when this happened into a browser and spread it on the fields his cattle grazed on.  (Delicious farm cheese produced).

I'd have a quiet chat with your neighbours to see what they do.

Couple of questions.

1.  What part of Piemonte?

2.  Why do you think you need to get rid of the pit?

3.  Have you consulted a Geometra?