Cistern Water Storage Tank

[GuglioLS]

The following is a project done in March of 2006 with our two tractors, 1953 Ford NAA Golden Jubilee with Bradco 3265 BH amd 2005 Jinma 354LE with Koyker 160 loader.

Up until this past summers monsoon, It had not rained, or snowed in over nine months, and we are in the 7th year of a severe drought. The water well is not what it used to be. So we decided to install a Cistern Tank. The Idea is to get the tank's first fill delivered, then replenish the water in the tank at a very slow rate from the well at about 1/2. gal minute.

The first photo is of the site we selected very close to the house. Doing this made the water lines to / from the tank very short and is situated very near all the plumbing lines located in the basement. It is also a good site because no one would drive over the tank.

I would dig with the backhoe and my wife Esther would use the Jinma FEL to cart off the spoil, this made a good size pile, about 30 cubic yards. We make a good team, the timing was just right – as the spoil pile was just about starting to fall back into the hole, Esther was there to scoop it up and haul it off. We did this over and over again and again for about 8 hours. Attached are all the photos that document our project.



I bought the tank on eBay, including delivery it was about $400 cheaper than one I could purchase locally! - Go Figure.
This was delivery day.



Larry

[GuglioLS]

Here I am having way too much fun. So I started Digging,



And Digging,



And more digging - hey, I'm starting to get pretty darn good with this thing. ;D



Larry

[GuglioLS]

Finally done with the Hoe, now the real work starts
After raking the hole flat and level, I compacted the whole thing with my 10" square tamper. My arms were about to fall off.



No that all the manual labor is out of the way, it's time to go get the tank.



Larry

[GuglioLS]

Here I am getting the tank aligned with the hole. I have a 2-1/2" square x 1/4" x 8 foot boom pole bolted to the FEL bucket. I used the old ford because I did not want to drill holes in my new Koyker Bucket attached to my Jinma. The boom pole is supported by a cable come along attached to the FEL so it won't sag. You may notice that huge clevis attached to the end of the pole.



Larry

[GuglioLS]

It took me a couple of attempts to get the tank aligned with the hole. It needed to be perfect and I had to account for the arc that would occur when lowering it down.



Got er in there:



Larry

[GuglioLS]

This is the view from our back porch to give you an idea of the overall project.



I called Aquaman, he delivered 1700 gallons of water. It took him about 15 minuets to pump it all in. Notice that the risers are now installed.



Larry

[GuglioLS]

After the tank was completely full, it's time to go check for leaks . Fortunately there were none ;D here are the lines that connect to the tank. I used flex lines between the tank and the hard PVC lines to allow for tank settling and to account for expansion and contraction.



Here is where the lines lead into the basement where all the Jet Pump and controls are located.



Larry

[GuglioLS]

Finally - a shot of my lovely wife Esther backfilling. She was the photographer of the project, the master dirt mover form one pile to another, Tank forewoman, and Chief refreshment provider.

Now She wants to know if we need to move any more dirt, She really likes that Jinma.



Here is a schematic of how it all works:



I have it plumbed so that if the jet pump fails, I can switch back over to the well while I repair or replace the jet pump. If the Pump in the well fails, we have about a 10 day water supply. That would give me plenty of time to replace the pump at the bottom of the well.

Larry

[bracabric]

Larry, thank you so much for posting on your many projects,you are a huge inspiration to us all, sometimes make me feel inadequate (which is good for keeping my head the right size ) there are several mods of yours that I intend to plagiarize in the fullness of time, particularly the thermostat mod.

Dick

[GuglioLS]

Dick,

Plagiarize away! that would be very flattering to me. Like many others, these projects are posted to inspire and get ideas from everyone. Lord knows I have stolen my fare share of ideas from others as well. This is just a small way of returning the favor. Glad you liked it and may have found some of the information useful to you in the future. I remember that tank you have on "stilts" hoe is that working out for you? Do you find a way to keep it full during your drought?

Larry

[stumpy]

Jan 31, 2008 0:50:59 GMT -5 GuglioLS said:

Here is a schematic of how it all works:



.........

Larry

I'm going to hookup my above ground water storage tank during my next trip to the farm. Looking at Larry's diagram and my neighborhood's setups, I'm wondering why the water line to fill the tank was at the bottom of the tank? I know that a check valve should prevent water flow back into the well, however, doesn't it uses more energy to "push" that water up into the tank?

Is there an advandage for running a separate line to fill from the top of the tank? My storage tank is about 20ft above the well. Plus the tank is about 10ft tall. When full, my well pump would need to overcome a 30ft gravity drop. Problably no big deal if you are on grid power. I'm using a DC solar pump with a very limited energy source and trying to use as little energy as possible. ...does it make a difference whether you fill from the bottom or the top of the tank? I forgot what I learned from high school Physics...

Thanks,

Tom

P.S. Larry, sorry for borrowing your thread just for my curiosity. I didn't want to start a new thread for just one silly question.

[GuglioLS]

I'm wondering why the water line to fill the tank was at the bottom of the tank? I know that a check valve should prevent water flow back into the well, however, doesn't it uses more energy to "push" that water up into the tank?

Tom - it take the same amount of energy to pump water into the bottom of a tank as it would up a pipe to the top (provided the take was full) Both scenarios have the exact same amount of water column or back pressure.
With a vertical pipe to the top, the energy used would always be maximum regardless of tank level. Pumping into a tank that is less than full would require less energy, so on average filling a tank from the bottom would require less energy. When the tank is empty less energy, as it get full it take the same energy to pump into the bottom of the tank as it would a pipe along side going to the top.

Is there an advandage for running a separate line to fill from the top of the tank? My storage tank is about 20ft above the well. Plus the tank is about 10ft tall. When full, my well pump would need to overcome a 30ft gravity drop. Problably no big deal if you are on grid power. I'm using a DC solar pump with a very limited energy source and trying to use as little energy as possible. ...does it make a difference whether you fill from the bottom or the top of the tank? I forgot what I learned from high school Physics...

It be more efficient to pump into the bottom of a tank, especially when the tank is up-hill from the water source.

P.S. Larry, sorry for borrowing your thread just for my curiosity. I didn't want to start a new thread for just one silly question.

No problemo that's what this thread is for.

Larry