Installing a cistern to capture sump pump water

[bmwpower]

Some of you may remember my predicament with active sump pump and the tons of water it pumps daily. On an idea sparked by Mdshunk, I began thinking about somehow capturing all of this water in some sort of container or cistern to later be used to water my yard (2+ acres). I would also need a pump at the bottom of the cistern to pump the water where it needs to go.

I was wondering if anyone has every done this and/or if it's even recommended. Some of my questions are:

- Are precast cisterns available commercially? If so, approximately how much are they? How big of a volume?
- What type of pump setup would I need? A manual on/off method with diverters for different areas of the yard would be easiest, but an automatic setup would be nicer.
- Is it okay to store this much water underground for periods of time? I was thinking of bacteria in the summer and freezing water in the winter.

Thanks for any insight. Just trying to save some natural resources...

[mdshunk]

Sure, people who can't afford to have a well drilled still use cisterns, and most of them are precast. Seems like a 1,000 gallon concrete one runs about $500 delivered to your hole in my part of the world. The same guys who make the concrete septic tanks make cisterns. You can also have a mason bulid a block one. You do have to put in a smidge of bleach every once in a while, and scrub the inside every year or so if you're drinking it. For irrigation, I'm not so sure I'd worry too much about that unless it began to have an offensive odor. There's probably dozens of ways you could arrange the plumbing and control system that would work fine. They don't really freeze in the winter, since they're buried a few feet down with a riser up to the lid to fill them. You wouldn't necessarily need the riser to a lid, since the sump pump will be filling it, but it would be nice to have for maintenance. You'll also need an overflow (probably to daylight) in case the sucker gets full. I'm not sure what the regulations are about having a cistern just for irrigation. I know that to put one in for drinking water there are permits involved, but I don't see that what you're proposing is any different than farmers who would install a livestock watering system by a similar arrangement. Check anyhow, I guess. Seems like a decent idea. You'd be the only one watering the lawn if water restrictions come back around.

[xkvator]

the only dif. between a concrete septic & cistern tank are there's no baffles in the cistern. You can also get plastic tanks if you can't get the triaxle tank hauler in to where you want to put it. you can haul them on a pickup. they need to be backfilled with gravel & filled with water as you're doing so. not supposed to drive over them either, even lawn tractor. i have a 2000 gal. concrete tank in ground for a spring that i don't use for house water anymore.
i made a cradle for a submersible pump that said would work in the horizontal pos.
i put a cistern in for a local farm a couple years ago and just stood the pump upright & used 3/4 copper tubing till i came out of the tank...it doesn't move.
$500 is about the cost of 1000 gal. rectangular tanks in my area. round might be cheaper.

[mdshunk]

There you go, BMW. Just drive to Pittsburgh and dig up XK's unneeded tank, and you're in business. :p

[bmwpower]

.......not supposed to drive over them either, even lawn tractor....

Does the same thing pertain to septic tanks?? I drive over mine all the time. Everyone else I know of does as well.

Not being able to drive over it with a lawn tractor could be a problem...

[bmwpower]

There you go, BMW. Just drive to Pittsburgh and dig up XK's unneeded tank, and you're in business. :p

Is this weekend good? :D

[mdshunk]

That's just for the plastic and fiberglass tanks. Burial depth and top of tank design factor into that a bit too. The concrete ones are okay to drive your tractor over.

Say, I just did a web search for 'cistern', and apparently the new PC term for cistern is "rainwater harvesting system". Apparently environmental people are really supporting cisterns for lawn watering, as you propose to do. This site (http://www.advancedbuildings.org/_frames/fr_t_plumbing_cisterns.htm), out of Canada, was pretty decent.

[Newguy]

Thats a good idea BMW

[xkvator]

Is this weekend good? :D
yes...i'll have the coffee ready at 6 A.M......bring donuts......oh, and i have a septic tank to repair Saturday morning, so bring your own shovel :)

there's about 5' of dirt covering the tank...so you might want to bring a friend & another shovel :D


seriosly though,
I'm not sure about lifting out a 2000 gal. tank - i've lifted & moved a 1000 gal. concrete tank with 2 machines - 2000 would take a couple bigger machines......and when i set it on your pickup, it would be a flatbed :eek:

[JohnnyVance]

Some of you may remember my predicament with active sump pump and the tons of water it pumps daily. On an idea sparked by Mdshunk, I began thinking about somehow capturing all of this water in some sort of container or cistern to later be used to water my yard (2+ acres). I would also need a pump at the bottom of the cistern to pump the water where it needs to go.

I was wondering if anyone has every done this and/or if it's even recommended. Some of my questions are:

- Are precast cisterns available commercially? If so, approximately how much are they? How big of a volume?
- What type of pump setup would I need? A manual on/off method with diverters for different areas of the yard would be easiest, but an automatic setup would be nicer.
- Is it okay to store this much water underground for periods of time? I was thinking of bacteria in the summer and freezing water in the winter.

Thanks for any insight. Just trying to save some natural resources...

I was thinking about doing the same thing with my sump water and have been searching all over without any luck. Did you ever find a workable & affordable solution?? Thanks!

[bmwpower]

I was thinking about doing the same thing with my sump water and have been searching all over without any luck. Did you ever find a workable & affordable solution?? Thanks!

Actually, I haven't had a real problem lately. Some time ago, I moved the level switch up using a bring under the pump. Ever since then, the water seems to equilibrate and not fill the small tank in the basement floor like it use to.