Cistern In Basement

Avoid placing cisterns in low areas subject to flooding.

Cistern in basement.

The water not of the quality for drinking was mainly used for washing and laundry. It is a 6 x 6 square hole about 7 deep and it is built right into the stone foundation walls of our 1880 s era house. The top of it is level with the basement floor so it s basically an open square shaft 7 feet deep. If you find a cistern in your basement and simply don t want it there your primary option is to fill it.

It s connected to a hand pump in the basement but the couple say they have no idea what to do with it. There s often still a trap door to access the cistern a good place to lose kids or pets. Cisterns may be incorporated into building structures such as in basements or under porches. A cistern that measures 8 feet wide by 12 feet long by 5 feet high can hold over 2 000 gallons.

A cistern should be located where the surrounding area can be graded to provide good drainage of surface water away from the cistern. The cisterns shown here were built abutting the home foundation wall probably filled by roof drainage and downspouts and were later abandoned. Some cisterns are placed on towers to provide water pressure. Let it run for a few minutes then go to the cistern and listen for incoming water.

The easiest way to do this is to simply bring a garden hose to the downspout that is closest to your cistern and if the downspout runs into a pipe that leads underground run the water and let it drain straight into that pipe. It is completely under the house and completely open to the basement no part of it is obscured or covered. This cistern was originally filled by downspouts directing roof runoff into the basement. This way you can use foundation walls for structural support as well as for containment of stored rainwater.

Cisterns were often located in the basement of a pre 1900 home. Filling it in properly. Most were built against the home s foundation and water was drawn from a tap located low on the basement wall. Unfortunately old cisterns may not be blocked.

Angie s list member tony adams and his wife dawn zapinski own a 101 year old foursquare home in meridian kessler that includes a cistern buried in the backyard. Hi everyone i have an old unused cistern in my basement. Some delivered the water with a hand pump.