Cistern Tank Installation

[CurlyDave]

I am wondering what happens if you ever start collecting rainwater from gutters & downspouts, like you mentioned early on.

This is not going to be clean water, lots of dust, bugs, & bird doo.

Is mixing this with your potable water really a good idea?

 

[GuglioLS]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I am wondering what happens if you ever start collecting rainwater from gutters & downspouts, like you mentioned early on.

This is not going to be clean water, lots of dust, bugs, & bird doo.

Is mixing this with your potable water really a good idea? )</font>

Now that you mention it - yuk - no not a good idea. I am definitely going to have to rethink that plan, Maybe collect the rain water in separate containers and use it only for trees and outside plants.

 

[MikeD74T]

You've obviously put a lot of thought into the system. I originally thought the cistern was only for irrigation. My thought behind the vacuum breaker is: if the tank gets contaminated it can be cleaned as can your household piping. Cleaning a well is another matter. A vacuum breaker is cheap insurance. If you're using one pump in different circuits it may be a moot point.

 

[GuglioLS]

Attached is a schematic of how the basic system works.
We have been using it since this Saturday afternoon 3/11/06. So far so good -.

 

[Farwell]

I have seen similar systems on the Internet. In one of the system I researched, the well pump was a low voltage/low flow pump powered by a solar setup. The pump had a low volume per minute that ran as long as was needed to fill the holding tank. If I remember correctly the water stored in the holding tank would go flat or develop problems of some sort (do not remember what the problem was) but the problem was resolved by using an ozone system. You may want to do some research to make sure that your water remains potable.
I have a tremendous amount of iron in my well and was trying to find out if there was some other system available to help me with the iron problem other than a water softener with salt treated with iron out. Didn't find a system that I liked so I had a new well drilled. The new well is much better but there is still some iron in the water.
I would not allow any other water in your system other than potable water. Catching rain water (if it ever rains in your area again) and using it for crop or lawn watering is a great idea but it needs a separate system in my opinion. If you go the separate system for watering, you may be able to add your grey water to the system as well. I sometimes wonder if rain water of today is of the same quality as the rain water our Grand parents collected in their cisterns?
I think your project was very well done and love your project photos and explanations.
Farwell

 

[Jimbrown]

Well I can just not understand why you have a pressure tank between the cistern and the well just does not make sense. The pressure tank needs to be between the jet pump and the house. If not the jet pump is going to cycle on and off at very short intervals and fail very quickely. They are not designed for that. The pressure tank needs to be after the jet pump and allow the pressure tank to service the house as it would in any normal situation. It should look like this.

 

[hilld]

I am in the process of having a similar system installed, not for lack of water, but because the county made me put in a fire sprinker system and my well could not provide adequate water for the requirements of the system. I needed 35 gals at 60 psi for 10 minutes to supply 2 heads (minimum requirement), however, my well only provided 10 gal/min at 45 psi.

The inground cistern is concrete and holds 1500 gals (I know overkill), but I want to be able to irrigate the "back 40" at one point or another. The way my system now works, the well pump feeds the cistern (no pressure tank), open system. Another pump (higher capacity) in the cistern feeds the house and fire sprinker system. The pressure tank is connected between the house and the cistern, it has been removed from the original setup between the well and the house.

Derek

 

[GuglioLS]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Well I can just not understand why you have a pressure tank between the cistern and the well just does not make sense. The pressure tank needs to be between the jet pump and the house. If not the jet pump is going to cycle on and off at very short intervals and fail very quickely. They are not designed for that. The pressure tank needs to be after the jet pump and allow the pressure tank to service the house as it would in any normal situation. It should look like this. )</font>

I have to respectfully disagree with that logic. Maybe you should CLICK HERE to learn about modern jet pumps, these jet pumps are designed for multiple cycles per hour.
The well can produce maybe 2-3 gallons a minuet with about 40-50 gallons reserve until it has to recharge. The jet pump has it’s own bladder pressure tank and is a Grundfos pump, very high quality, it is designed to cycle. The submersible pump it the one I really want to protect from multiple cycles and not running dry. Who wants to pull a submersible pump out of a well due to over cycling? No one except maybe a well service company. Having the pressure tank on the well and SLOWLY discharging the water into the cistern over a long period of time, ensures that the submersible will not cycle excessively and that the well will not go dry, overheating the pump.

 

[dubba]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The jet pump has it’s own bladder pressure tank )</font>

I don't think he meant to incite, You just left that part out of the diagram because it is a part of your pump. Some jet pumps have a separate tank, Mine has 2. Every system is different

 

[Knight9]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Now that you mention it - yuk - no not a good idea. I am definitely going to have to rethink that plan, Maybe collect the rain water in separate containers and use it only for trees and outside plants )</font>

Lots of folks use in ground cisterns to capture rain water. The only key is to ensure that you are screening the water before it enters the tank. This can be done at the downspouts or even at the top of the tank. Screens need to be removable so they can be cleaned. Works like a charm /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Kevin