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Post by mskrieger on Apr 1, 2016 7:44:14 GMT -5
Hi folks,
We're finally getting around to doing something with the steel and lead mine in our backyard (aka a 1950s-era pool.) We'd like to set a cistern in the deep end. After pricing it out, the freestanding food grade polyethylene cisterns that come pre-plumbed are very attractive (versus concrete). We would harvest water off our roof, hook the cistern's outflow to the existing pool pump and use it to water gardens and as an emergency drinking water supply (in which case we'd probably want a manual or solar powered pump, too.)
Because it would be set in the ground and covered, it would stay cool and protected from UV light, which as I understand it are the primary concerns for polyethylene cisterns.
Anyone have any experience or thoughts on this set up?
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Post by Walk on Apr 1, 2016 15:31:38 GMT -5
Hi folks, We're finally getting around to doing something with the steel and lead mine in our backyard (aka a 1950s-era pool.) We'd like to set a cistern in the deep end. After pricing it out, the freestanding food grade polyethylene cisterns that come pre-plumbed are very attractive (versus concrete). We would harvest water off our roof, hook the cistern's outflow to the existing pool pump and use it to water gardens and as an emergency drinking water supply (in which case we'd probably want a manual or solar powered pump, too.) Because it would be set in the ground and covered, it would stay cool and protected from UV light, which as I understand it are the primary concerns for polyethylene cisterns. Anyone have any experience or thoughts on this set up? We have three 1500 gallon ag tanks above ground for our rainwater for irrigation storage system. The tanks are in a mostly shady location but we also painted them to protect from UV degradation. The tanks are linked to fill and only one tank has the pump for irrigating. The tanks are drained down in the fall. Our household water is in an underground tank (the back end of a milk truck) so we have water year-round, otherwise in Minnesota it would be a block of ice. The house tank is stainless steel. If you want something that is really food-grade, then stainless steel is the material of choice. It might be worth a few calls to local junk yards to see if they have any tanker trucks that have been sent to the graveyard. I know of another home over in Wisconsin that got a damaged tank, dented because it was being used for pumping water by a local fire department who forgot to open the air/pressure relief valve and the tank partially dented in on itself while fighting a fire. We got our 2500 gallon tank delivered in 1999 for $400. Other folks in our area who have cisterns use concrete septic tanks (newly installed for water use). Several homes in our area rely on cisterns as wells are too costly to install, at least $25,000 on the ridge. The local fire department and/or creamery will deliver water in their tankers and the cost is pretty reasonable compared with a well, so even if you run out of rainwater it's still possible to get water if needed. Hope this info is somewhat helpful. |
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Post by mskrieger on Apr 4, 2016 9:08:01 GMT -5
Thanks, Walk. Glad to hear the polyethylene tanks are working well for you, even above ground. The re-use of stainless steel tanker trucks is a completely new idea to me! I like it. However, their weight and bulk would make it close to impossible for us to get one into our backyard--we'd need to knock down some combination of powerlines, houses, bedrock ridgelines, walls and/or 150 year old trees, even using a crane! We live in an old industrial city on the East Coast. |
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Post by steev on Apr 4, 2016 10:26:40 GMT -5
Helicopters!
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Post by Walk on Apr 4, 2016 15:33:06 GMT -5
Another tank that lots of people in our area use is the stainless steel bulk tank made for dairy operations. It's possible to locate them at scrap yards, especially the smaller sizes (300-500 gallons). Many dairies are getting larger and no longer use tanks this small. They usually sell for around $1/gallon, sometimes for less especially if lids are missing or bent. Maybe they have these out east?
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Post by mskrieger on Apr 6, 2016 10:52:27 GMT -5
Definitely worth checking out, Walk. Connecticut is a big dairy producer. Thanks for the idea. And steev...helicopter. Of course. Why didn't I think of this myself? The OBVIOUS solution. |
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Post by steev on Apr 6, 2016 22:51:47 GMT -5
"OBVIOUS" is one of my numerous middle names; one of the least derogatory, IMHO.
Helicopters!: pricey, but so cool; whop!, whop!, whop!; so Apocalypse Now! One hopes you have no VietNameze neighbors to be flash-backed and terrorized.
Living near major medical facilities upgrading/constructing, we have often been treated to helicopters bringing roof-mounted stuff on the weekend (I have no clue why this isn't done during the week; traffic? They're in the air!). It's not like somebody's Prius is going to be in their way, silently skulking about. Maybe people mostly get "sick" only during the week, so it's less disruptive to the "normal" flow of the afflicted, who are perhaps more inclined to deal with medical issues on "company" time, than on the weekend. Being the "company", I deal with these things when they come up, admitting that I put less pressing issues off to the weekdays, when possible (my primary-care physician isn't there on the weekends).
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Post by prairiegarden on May 16, 2016 9:35:53 GMT -5
a blimp! Just don't smoke near the fuel lines...
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Post by mskrieger on May 17, 2016 11:00:40 GMT -5
<trying to think of a good Apocalypse Now joke.>
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Post by steev on Nov 5, 2016 1:42:37 GMT -5
Still waiting...
BTW, blimps now lift on helium, not hydrogen, so no more dangerous than any other petroleum-based-fuel conveyance. Oh, wait, the transportation of the petroleum is the danger.
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Post by mskrieger on Nov 6, 2016 10:24:41 GMT -5
So...I'd put the whole cistern thing on hold because my husband, who is normally not a frivolous man, suggested maybe we could transform the old pool into a grotto instead and plant citrus trees in it and have a water feature. And the two of us had a very indulgent few months of planning this.
But the signs all around town blaring "WATER EMERGENCY! CONSERVE WATER NOW!" are reminding me that droughts afflict even well watered New England (although you Western folks would laugh at the thought that this is a drought...you would also laugh at the idea that a city of 90,000 people would rely on a single, smallish lake as its reservoir. But we've never needed anything else.)
So maybe the cistern is happening again.
Unfortunately all the Apocalypse Now jokes I can think of are hitting too close to home.
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