A few questions about your experiences with cisterns. We’re planning to put in a cistern under the new porch of the addition. The space is about 11x7x7. We could either put in a plastic tank, or have the cistern poured in place when the foundation is poured. Anyone have preferences about concrete vs plastic tanks??
Has anyone put in a “roof washer” Takes the first few gallons of water from the roof and lets it flush aside, and then directs the rest to the cistern. Can you use them in southern ontario. ?freeze-up, though of course the water is only running when it’s above 32. This is for showers, etc, not drinking water.
Thanks guys.
Replies
Being a certified country redneck, I've spent a lot of time around cisterns. Got the pleasure of climbing down in a few and cleaning 'em out. Lotsa fun. My folks and some of my relatives still use cisternS.
The "roof washer" sounds like a good idea. I've never been around one of those. Maybe the danged cisterns wouldn't need cleaning out so often if we had one of those.
When I was growing up, the cistern was hooked up to the hot water, and the well furnished the cold water. Taking a shower was a trip - First the well pump would kick in, and you'd have to turn the cold water down. Then the cistern pump would kick in and you'd get scalded before you could get the shampoo out of your eyes to tun the cold water back up. My GF wasn't impressed when I tried to take a romantic shower with her under those conditions..............(-:
Offhand, I'd say go for it. It makes a lot of diference in how clean your clothes and stuff get on cistern water. I'd suggest hooking it to your showers and the clothes washer. (Both hot and cold) And if your codes allow, put in some cross-over valves so you can hook everything up to your regular water source during dry times.
Mom and Dad's basement looks like a lunatic built it - He has "T"s built in all over so if the well is low, they can switch more stuff over to the cistern, and vice versa. So there are valves and cross-overs all over the place. Looks like the plumbing in a submarine or something.
Can't help you with the concrete/plastic thing. I have an Aunt & Uncle who have an 8X8X20' plastic one, and they've used it for 25 years with no problems. Mom and Dad have a neat one that's kind of like a well. It's 4' diameter, and about 20' deep. There's a loose stacked brick wall down the middle of the thing, almost the full height. The water comes in from the gutters on one side, filters through the bricks, and is pumped out of the other side. Pretty cool. I've never seen another one like it.
Don't know if any of this has been useful, but what the heck - I like telling stories.
Everywhere I go, I'm asked if I think the universities stifle writers.
My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. -- Flannery O'Connor
Hi Boss.
Thanks for chiming in. I know about cisterns, never had to clean it out, but when Mom said the water was getting stinky, then my Dad and brothers would climb down into it, and pull out buckets of leaves, and they used to tell me, frogs. Don't know if that was true, but they said it with a straight face.
We have a well and cistern on the farm, and when the cistern runs dry, the well has to be switch over onto the 'soft water' system. Sure can appreciate your comments about the pump kicking in. one thing I'm going to do is put in a new pressure tank. To think mom has put up with it for all these years, but it's about time for a new tank.
Really intrigued by the idea of the bricks up the middle of the cistern. Natural filtration! How many gallons does it hold? Though two older people wouldn't use as much as my two about-to-be teenagers. I figure the concrete cistern would hold about 3500 - 4000 gallons. Articles I looked up suggested anywhere from 20 to 50 gallons a day per person. Round my house, it better be 20, not 50!! Way the summers have been lately around here, I might need that much storage.
While I have no experience with roof washers, here are a few links to a site where someone is doing exactly what you are talking about. Hope this helps.
http://www.daycreek.com/dc/html/journal032000.htm
http://www.daycreek.com/dc/html/journal050700.htm
Thanks for the links. Interesting, Im gonna go back and re-read.
A roof washer???? In the time and place of my childhood, everyone had cisterns. Down spout had a wye in it with a lever. The lever controlled whether the water went on the ground or into the cistern.
Leave lever set to ground. Rain begins. When you think enough rain has fallen to wash the roof off, run outside, get wet and switch the position. Usually a job for a child.....me. No typhoid, no cholera, no chlorine.
Roof washer....piffle.
ShelleyinNM
Hi, I know you're right about piffle. The addition is on our family farm, I grew up there, and now we're going home. The new cistern will replace the old (since it's no longer acceptable to bath only once a week) I'll have two teen -age girls soon, so will need a larger cistern.
Thats what we did, run out and change the lever over after a few minutes. However, we won't be home as much as when I grew up. Then, there was always someone home to flip the switch. My Mom is still there, but she's not always home either.
And, our neighbour feeds his cows "red dog" . It's ground up corn cobs, and as wind-borne as all hell. Get a good breeze, then a rain, and the soft water is red until it settles out in the cistern. Plus, when it's dry, the cows stir up really rotten smelling swill.
So, it's not quite the same as when I was growing up, and the old neighbour kept that field in alfalfa. :^(
That's why I'm looking for a roof washer. I'm a firm believer in a little dirt never hurt ya. But there's a limit.
marta... the roof washers i remember used a 5 gal bucket as a counterweight.. when that filled, it tripped and diverted the rest of the flow to the cistern..kind of a rube-goldberg setup... i can't remember any of the details beyond that..
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Many years back I helped a friend rebuild his cistern. He had neighbors deep into the orchard business and seasonally sprayed chemicals. So to satisfy his concerns we cemented a 16x16x24" ceramic chimney liner over the crown inlet of his refurbished/replastered cistern and built up layers if filtration from the bottom up fine to coarse. I think he finally used activated charcoal pads on the bottom, then a filter pad, then fine gravel, then a disposable AC filter, and the top layer was a removable hardware cloth basket to catch the leaves and maple seeds.
The diverter set above this and was used as in other posts.
Years later our knowledge of pesticides as an enviromnetal hazard grew and we now look back and realize that the filter we built was great for particulate matter, but had little effect on the organic pesticide chemical content. He hauled water for many years to fill the cistern. Finally the water district expended and he was able to get a tap. The cistern is still used for laundry, garden and yard.
Be sure to fill the plastic tank with water and strapping before attempting the concrete pour. And even at that it will not be enough to keep the tank from floating out of ther pour. Concrete weights about 150 lb/cf and water weights about 64 lb/cf giving a net lift capacity of 80 lb/cf.
Maybe a two part or three part pour. Good Luck
...................Iron Helix