Underground cistern water storage options

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  • Paul30

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    In the case of a national or local disaster where I need to rely on a personal source of water for a little longer than I normally plan, I am looking for options for underground water storage. I considered above ground 55 gallon drums that collect rainwater, but they would be above ground, take up space, and freeze in the winter. I am considering installing a cistern underground to store the water to eliminate the freezing problem. If I install it close enough to my home I may be able to design a way to attach it to my house plumbing. I even considered trying to have an auxiliary tank higher to allow for a gravity feed into my home plumbing.

    Anyone else done this or have a similar set up? In a disaster, water is important. I have a septic system, so enough water solves any sewer issues as well. Even if a disaster never happen, I can always use the harvested rain water to water the garden etc. and save on the water bill over time.
     

    Leadeye

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    Lots of folks do this here in the Southern Indiana hills, water is often deep or not good quality. People buy the water in town and fill up their cisterns at home. You can even find special plastic tanks fitted for pickup trucks just for this purpose.
     

    patience0830

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    Grandparents had an underground cistern that was fed from the gutters on the barn, cistern shed and the hog house. Just a sealed concrete tank as far as I knew. We didn't ever drink from it but the hogs sure did. I have a pond well at my place. A big Berkey water filter and a couple five gallon buckets would get me by in a pinch.
     

    Cameramonkey

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    Used to be cistern next to my grandmas house. Even had the old school hand pump over the 2 pcs split concrete lid.

    Later they drilled the well through the bottom of the cistern and drew it up from there using a modern pump until we tore it down. Now all that remains of her house is that cistern and the antique pump. (hasnt worked in decades)
     

    OurDee

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    I keep a travel Berkey with black filters and flouride filters for emergency and also to filter city water for cooking with. I try to have 50 gallons of bottled water on hand. A friend of mine in Martinsville has a cistern on the property but doesn't use it. I always wondered what it's story was.
     

    MindfulMan

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    I have a small getaway cabin, and use collected rainwater for my seasonal usage. The water is only used for flushing the toilet, running a garden hose, washing hands, and so forth ...... we never drink it.
    With proper treatment, it could be drank, but we carry in our drinking water ..... so that's not a concern.

    Water is collected from the roof, and goes into this 55 gal. drum. The drum is filled with various size aggregates (large at he bottom, and a layer of sand at the top.
    It goes out of the PVC piping and into the ground, where it's collected in (5) 55 gallon plastic barrels that are buried on their side. From, there, it's pumped-up via a shallow well pump (1/3 HP), and a pressure tank system, straight into the PVC plumbing system of the cabin.

    I dump about a 1/2 gallon of concentrated bleach into the system every year, and that keeps any crud from growing in the water. Appearance-wise, the water looks as clear as my water at home. I also scrape-off the top 2" of sand in the filter barrel (yearly), and replace it with fresh sand.


    i-BBVt6Mg-L.jpg



    Bottom of the filter drum (a few years ago, I did a bit of a refurbish on the system, which has been in operation for about 20 years).

    i-xFnDDv5-L.jpg



    I hope this helps in your planning, OP. :)
     
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