Cistern

[Bluedog225]

Does anyone have a cistern? I’m thinking of having one installed while the septic guy is doing his thing.

I was thinking of concrete but maybe the newer plastic ones are better?

Thinking of the neighborhood of 5000 gallons depending on the price.

Any thoughts or tips appreciated.

 

[FilterGuy]

Does anyone have a cistern? I’m thinking of having one installed while the septic guy is doing his thing.

Hmmmmm.... just be sure he doesn't get the pipes crossed!!!

Sorry. I know nothing practical about cisterns but had to add my smart-arse comment.

 

[Bluedog225]

A good argument for an above-ground tank.

 

[42OhmsPA]

Check this out.
(I normally watch him on 1.5x speed...)

 

[Nobodybusiness]

Does anyone have a cistern? I’m thinking of having one installed while the septic guy is doing his thing.

I was thinking of concrete but maybe the newer plastic ones are better?

Thinking of the neighborhood of 5000 gallons depending on the price.

Any thoughts or tips appreciated.

We had one for years but not sure if it met the definition of cistern.

It was a concrete tank buried underground that the gutters ran into.

We used that water ( filtered but no UV or ozone) for everything but that was in the 70s.

We all survived it.

Not sure why it ever fell out of use.

Cheap municipal water I guess.

 

[AlaskanNoob]

Buying at least one of the ribbed plastic burial water tanks this summer. Probably won't put it in the ground until next summer though. Gotta keep that water from freezing in the winter so planning on digging a hole under the frost line, pouring a concrete pad, pouring some concrete walls, putting up some foam insulation on the walls, then building a removable insulated wood roof and putting a foot of dirt over top of it. Have it filled by rainwater collection from the cabin. Maybe the wife will stop complaining about not having running water then!

 

[Daddy Tanuki]

we used a rainwater collection system to fill our cistern when I was a child. we used it for everything except drinking and cooking. so watering the gardens bathtub and toilet. kitchen sink was only sink that ran off of the well, though I know i swallowed a lot of water form the cistern when I was younger just not caring it did not seem to hurt us back then. this was rural indiana and it was a 40' dug well so water production was slow especially in the late summer. we often times had to haul water with a water wagon and the truck to fill the cistern if the rain was low that year

 

[Checkthisout]

This a 4000 gallon cistern. Doing some inspection on the pump. This is a buried 2000 gallon septic tank joined to another tank via a 3" pipe.

Funny you guys mentioned not getting the pipes mixed up. The guy who came to pump the septic tank was literally about 10 seconds away from dipping his hose into this tank.

These are to assist a low flow well.


These are my two above ground tanks at my cabin. They are 4' diameter spiral duct. I had pvc liners made and made some lid assemblies for the top. 750 gallons each. They capture rainwater off roof. I get about 350 gallons per inch of rain. The water is then treated through some filters and used for showering, drinking, dishwashing, toilet flush, laundry etc.

 

[Dagoth Ur Does Solar]

Cisterns are such a cool concept. My property is on a private well, so water hasn't really been a concern, but as we've scaled up our gardening, I do worry about water utilization from irrigation.

Being able to store even a couple hundred gallons of rainwater water to use for our gardens would be nice.

The water is then treated through some filters and used for showering, drinking, dishwashing, toilet flush, laundry etc.

I was going to ask if anyone had gone down the rabbit hole of filtration and purification of rainwater collection. I'd love to get samples and compare it to my well water (which we haven't even had tested since we moved in). We haven't died or been sick yet, so I guess we're fine.

 

[Checkthisout]

I was going to ask if anyone had gone down the rabbit hole of filtration and purification of rainwater collection. I'd love to get samples and compare it to my well water (which we haven't even had tested since we moved in). We haven't died or been sick yet, so I guess we're fine.

I used a .5 micron final filter and UV light.

The .5 micron filters have gotten too expensive and the UV light glass broke again.

I said fawk it and now just use two like 10 micron charcoal filters and no light.

No blindness yet.

If the tank starts to look off I can just shock it with bleach. The charcoal filters then filter the bleach back out.

 

[D71]

I used a .5 micron final filter and UV light.

The .5 micron filters have gotten too expensive and the UV light glass broke again.

I said fawk it and now just use two like 10 micron charcoal filters and no light.

No blindness yet.

If the tank starts to look off I can just shock it with bleach. The charcoal filters then filter the bleach back out.

Is that your bug out or permanent?

 

[Checkthisout]

Is that your bug out or permanent?

Recreational cabin.

Good bug out place though!

 

[WorldwideDave]

We have 2 properties that we put cisterns on the roof. Water is delivered by the municipality only twice a month through PVC pipes to our building. When the water pressure goes up on the building inlet, I have a pressure switch that turns on an electric pump to get the water to the roof. They are 1100 liters each / 2200 liters total (about 600 gallons). With it on the roof in a tank, the head pressure is enough to do everything in our places. 4 showers, 3 sinks, one washing machine. We have 7 water filters in place. Entire system cost around $5,000 USD, including tanks, pump, new plumbing, filters, and labor to do it all. USA it would cost 3-4 times this. Water is also SUPER cheap, so is electricity and internet...just have to leave USA to get better prices.
This setup is great because the water sometimes doesn't come every 2 weeks - it went to once a month for 5 months a while back. Because I have cisterns, I was the only one who had water on the block. I use about 1/12 of the water per week, so I can go about 6 weeks without needing any water.
I also have a propane tank that runs a propane hot water heater on demand with a 2-D cell batteries to spark it.
My thought was to switch to one of those roof top stainless hot water heaters. But I use less than $150 USD in propane per year for stove + on demand hot water heater. Yes, propane is cheaper there too.

 

[justgary]

I have had a rain barrel for years at our lake camp. It is filled with water from the gutter and then filtered through a 20 micron and then .35 micron filter. We don't drink it, but we do use it for hand washing and other needs. I came across a very ingenious way to keep from filling the barrel with all the crap on the roof, so I thought I would share that with you. I don't have a photo, but maybe I can describe it. Here is how to put it together:

1. Estimate how much rain you would like to fall on your roof to flush it before you start collecting water. I'm using about 3-4 ounces per square foot. Maybe it should be more, but the idea is to let some water flow to at least get the pollen and dust off the roof.
2. Multiply that number by the number of square feet of collection area to get the total volume of bypass you need to flush the roof. In my case, it is about 15 gallons.
3. Create an L-shaped pipe that will hold that volume of water. I used 4" PVC, so it is maybe 12' long horizontally and tall enough vertically to reach above the rain barrel. Put a cap on the end and drill a small hole in the lowest part of the cap to let the water slowly drain. I used 1/4". Don't glue the cap on since you will need to remove it from time to time to remove the leaves and other stuff that collects in the tube. The horizontal part of my tube rests directly on the ground, but has a bit of slope downward toward the cap.
4. Put a street tee on the upper end of the tube, with the straight part vertical and the curved tee favoring downward flow (water falling through the tee should not be able to directly enter the horizontal part of the tee). Connect your collection system to this part of the tee.
5. Connect your gutter downspout to the top of the vertical part of the tee. Water from the roof enters here.

How it works: Water runs off the roof and down the spout. It flows through the tee and into the lower tube. If it is barely sprinkling, you didn't get enough water to flush the roof well, and it will drain out of the small hole in the cap at the end of the tube. Eventually you will get enough water to back up in the tube all the way to the tee (in my case, the tube would then have 15 gallons in it that slowly tries to drain). Once the water is backed up to the tee, it will then flow into the collection pipe for storage in your cistern or barrel.

A heavy rain will flush the roof quickly, but a light rain may take a while before collection begins. The system is completely passive and requires very little attention or maintenance. Just remove the cap and pull the leaves, etc. out of the lower pipe. I do it every few years.

I'll draw a sketch later and post it so you can see what you just read.

 

[Dagoth Ur Does Solar]

For those of you using filters, what exactly is the media/setup for filtration. Just gravity fed through a pre-bought filter?

I always had an interest in the DIY barrel filters with layers of sand/charcoal/etc. Would be fun to build something like that and test the water against what I get out of my well.

 

[Checkthisout]

For those of you using filters, what exactly is the media/setup for filtration. Just gravity fed through a pre-bought filter?

I always had an interest in the DIY barrel filters with layers of sand/charcoal/etc. Would be fun to build something like that and test the water against what I get out of my well.

2 10"x4.5" "big blue" housings with whatever filters of choice along with 36" 100 watt UV light which I have now removed.





Not shown but pre-pump is a 100 mesh Rusco.

The barrel screen is that little overpriced mesh thing below the downspout. Goes into a "settling pipe" to get out some of the remaining crud.

You can open the big valve and bypass and drain the settling pipe. It also doubles as the "shut off" whe. I no longer want roof water going into the tanks. It just wastes it out onto the ground.

Homer bucket was just there to empty into to see how much crud was getting caught.

I get about 100" of rain per year.

 

[Daddy Tanuki]

our cistern had a cast concrete box at the space closest to the house which acted as a filter for the water coming off the roof. inside that portion of the box/filter it had 12" or fine gravel and then 24" of semi course sand in the bottom then a layer of charcoal and then a reverse grading of pea gravel to medium gravel to larger gravel at the top most. I know it had to be emptied cleaned a replaced every couple of years, but that system was setup in the 40's so it it is what it is.

this was all cast as one piece in the concrete but it also had a dedicated space for the pump motors and a set of valves where it could be diverted between well and cistern during the wells good months.