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beckibob

Cistern or BIG Rain Barrel?

beckibob
16 years ago

My brother in Ohio created a watering system by tying his downspouts into a very large cement tank. We'd like to do the same, but am having trouble locating a holding tank for a decent price. We need something significantly larger than a normal rain barrel or the soap containers from car washes suggested on another post. Any ideas?

Comments (8)

  • tsmith2579
    16 years ago

    Why not dig a cistern and line it with an inexpensive pond liner material? You can build a concrete pad cover over it with a wooden trap door for access or build a wooden deck like cover over it You can use a hand pump which will lift water 16 feet or add an electric submersible pump. It won't take long to dig a 300 gal cistern. - Terry

  • beckibob
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Terry, good idea, but we wanted to hide it under our deck, which we just built this spring. We put heavy duty plastic and gravel underneath the whole thing, and I hate to undo that. I wish I had thought of the hand-dug cistern idea before.

    Still, it's an idea. Even with a cover, wouldn't it attract mosquitoes?

  • tedevore
    16 years ago

    for 300 gallons of water, the "cistern" could be a hole 4ft X 4ft X 2 1/2 ft deep.
    I've never worked with pond liners, but it seems like the biggest challenge
    would be folding the liner in the best way so that it fit well against the sides.
    Kind of like when a tile expert had to redo the bottom of my shower stall, and
    he knew how to fold and attach a thick piece of rubber/pvc liner to the floor and walls, in one peice, before covering with mortar/tile.

    It seems to me it might be worth it to build a plywood frame inside the hole in such a way that you could pour about 15 bags worth of cement in and line it that way. I would think the walls of the little reservoir would outlive me,
    staying sturdy.

  • bama35640
    16 years ago

    I got 2 275 gallon plastic tanks at the local Lacon trade days for 10.00 each. Might be worth a look.

    Bob in Morgan County

  • asolarpro_gmail_com
    12 years ago

    What is Lacon trade days?

  • gruber
    12 years ago

    Concrete septic tank.

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    12 years ago

    About the mosquitoes...you'll need the address that issue for sure and the best solution would probably be some form of Bt-I (Bacillus thuringiensis-israelensis). Bt-I is the larvacide used to control mosquite wrigglers in aquatic environments, as well as fungus gnats, etc. You can find it in the form of mosquito dunks, granules, and liquid.

    The amount you put in would depend upon the surface area of your water holding tank, and not the volume. I wouldn't think that it would be too much of a problem to toss some dunks in from time to time.

  • User
    12 years ago

    Ok, I remembered reading your post, and I knew somewhere on myy computer I had a picture of a home system that used a really big cistern and used the water for multiple purposes. Not sure about "code" or anything, I am just supplying this all encompassing system to use found clean water.

    And here is the image of it. I think you can save it and then enlarge it again, if GW reduces it.
    {{gwi:368284}}

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