If you've read this blog for any length of time, it's likely you know that we have a cistern. This is our only access to running water to use with baths, the toilet, washing clothes, etc. And you'll also know that it leaks and we have been trying to figure out what to do about it for years.
Before I continue, however, let me answer a few questions I'm sure you'll have (because everyone we mention the situation to has the same questions).
What is a cistern, anyway?
A cistern is a large tank (made of cement, fiberglass, or plastic) that is, usually, set in the ground to collect runoff water, mainly from a roof. The water we use in our house comes from the sky via rain or snow. It's funneled from the gutters on the roof through downspouting into an underground tank
Can't you drill a well?
We have two wells (dug by the previous owner) on our property--neither of which is functional. One was dug and hit a natural gas pocket. The other tapped into a water flow that was full of minerals and yields about 250 gallons of water per week, which isn't enough to supply our water needs.
Can't you tap into city water?
We live in a holler with a one-lane road for access. The lane is bounded by a large hill on one side and small creek on the other. It would be massively cost-prohibitive to dig through the hill, impossible to dig up the lane, and the DNR wouldn't like it if we dug up the creek in order to lay the pipes necessary to tap into the city water.
So, what's wrong with your . . . what did you call it . . . cistern?
It was made of cement, with top and bottom sections. The top had shifted somewhat off the bottom and had large cracks running through it. So water would leak out of it . . . and also into it. It was only holding about 500 gallons at a time, so unless we were continually supplied with rain, we had to use our truck every week to get water or call the guy who hauls water to bring us a load of water. He brings about 1600 gallons but since the cistern leaks, most of that was gone before we could use it. Lately, we were hauling water once a week (a 90-minute round trip for Seth in the truck) or calling the water guy (to the tune of $40 for each delivery). And lately, we've been calling the water guy since the brakes were bad on our own water-hauling truck and Seth hadn't had an opportunity to fix them.
Can't you just put a liner in it or seal it somehow?
We have looked into all the options available for repairing a leaky cistern and exhausted each one for one reason or another. A few years ago, we had it Thorosealed. Since then, Seth has plastered it with a foam sealer and has done quite a few other things that I can't even remember. The patches and fixes just don't hold water (get it?) and we are continually left without any.
Wow, that sucks. So, what are you going to do about it?
Yes, thanks. Back to the point of this post. Back in 2012, we got an estimate to have a new concrete cistern installed to the tune of about $9,000. That was a bit much for us, so we checked into various other kinds of cisterns (poly tanks, fiberglass) and found that, because of the soil in our area (mainly clay), the only type of cistern that we can really get is one made of concrete. So, we were back to the drawing board.
When we got the initial quote for a new cistern a few years ago, I had checked the phone book to see if there was someone else in the area who installed cisterns and found that it had no "cistern" category. I didn't know where to go from there, so over the years, we've tried these various other solutions, checking into other cistern possibilities but we kept running into the same issues. Occasionally, we would ask someone in the area if they knew of anyone who installed cisterns (because, c'mon, we're in a very rural area and surely someone is a professional cistern installer around here). Please refer to the questions above for the resulting conversations.
In November, we were getting fairly exasperated with our water situation and tired of dumping money into a failing cistern. During one of the water deliveries that were becoming more frequent, I mentioned to Charles, the water hauler, about our dilemma. When I told him the price we had been quoted, his jaw dropped, and he said, "Oh, no, no, no, honey. That's just not right. Why, my son and a friend of his installed a cistern just down at the end of your lane a few years ago for just a couple thousand dollars."
WHAT?! I thought to myself. YOU MEAN THE WATER HAULER HAS KNOWN ALL THESE YEARS WHERE WE COULD GET A NEW CISTERN AND WE'VE NEVER ASKED HIM? I really did yell that to myself. How in the world had we not had this conversation with him before?!
After I picked up my jaw from the ground, I asked him for more details, he gave me the name and number of the plumber who installed the cistern and, as soon as I got back into the house, I gave the guy a call. He said he was busy and probably wouldn't get to it for awhile. Seriously?!
But, I now knew where to look for cistern-installers -- the plumbing section of the yellow pages. I got the phone book, grabbed a pen, and began going down the list of local plumbers. My (multiple) conversations usually went like this:
Me: Hi, I'm wondering if you install cisterns.
Plumber: A what?
Me: A cistern.
Plumber: A kitchen sink?
Me: No, a cis-tern. Cistern.
Plumber: What's that?
Me: I'll take that as a "no" then.
A few said they used to do such a thing but didn't any longer. Some said they didn't but here's a number to try of someone who might. I spent several hours calling around, crossing off name after name. I even went through the list of "septic tank installers," thinking there was surely some similarity between installing a cistern and a septic tank.
I found a manufacturer of cisterns in the area but they couldn't give me the name of anyone who would install it. And Seth didn't think he was really up for the job of installing it himself (despite the fact that BIL Nate was ready and willing to hop in an excavator and dig a hole for it). I may or may not have have said to him, "C'mon, it can't be that hard to install a cistern, can it? Don't you just dig a hole, drop it in the ground, and hook it up?" He may or may not have just looked at me and raised his eyebrow.
One of my last phone calls was to a plumber named Bob. His wife answered the phone and I left a message with her. Bob was out hunting but would give me a call back later (hashtag smalltownlife). A day or two later, he did, and much to my delight, he knew how to install a cistern. Hope was on the horizon.
A few days later, he and the guy who excavates for him came out, looked at our set up, asked the above questions, and then said he would give us a bid for the job. Kieran, meanwhile, asked the excavator guy why he was missing his two front teeth. "This is what happens when you don't brush your teeth, kid," he said. I appreciated that the cistern installation also came with a real-life hygiene lesson for the boys.
Bob said, not including the cistern itself, he could do the job for $3200 -- that included excavating the area, hooking up the plumbing, covering it all back up, and hauling away the extra dirt. Wow. That sounded so much better than the $9000 originally quoted.
So, I called the cistern manufacturer and scheduled a delivery of a 3,400-gallon cistern a few weeks later when Bob said he would be available. And then, when Charles again came to bring us another load of water, I so very proudly told him that I had found a guy to install the cistern and his name was Bob X.
Charles' mouth dropped open and he said, "Oh, no, no, no, honey. Not Bob X! No, no, no. That just won't do. I've seen his work and dealt with him before and you do not want him installing your cistern. He does not do good work. I just can't stand to see someone taken advantage of. No, no, no. Why don't you give Lil' Brian a call -- the guy who lives down at the end of your lane. He does this type of thing all the time. I'll have my son give him a call for you."
WHAT?! I thought to myself. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! I CAN NOT BE HEARING THIS RIGHT NOW!! THERE IS A CISTERN-INSTALLER RIGHT DOWN THE ROAD FROM US??!!?
After I picked up my jaw from off the ground, I thanked him for his kindness in looking out for us and went inside, debating whether to call and cancel Bob. Finally, I did. And then I tried to figure out the best way to get in touch with Neighbor Brian.
The next day, a truck roared up to our house and out hopped Brian. Charles' son had indeed called him and let him know we were in dire straits and in need of his help. He took a look at what was going on, asked us the above questions, and then said he would do it and could get to it on the day I'd originally scheduled the cistern to be delivered. He came out a day or two later to dig a test hole to make sure he wasn't going to hit bedrock and, thankfully, found nine feet of dirt sitting under our property.
The day the cistern was scheduled to be delivered, it rained. Apparently, it's not wise to dig a massive hole in your yard during a rain storm. So, we postponed the delivery and installation until the end of that week. I was beginning to think we just weren't meant to have a new cistern . . . .
Finally, the day arrived and Brian showed up to begin the excavation.
Soon enough, there was a giant gaping hole in the ground, next to our old cistern.
And then what to my wondering eyes should appear but a giant truck hauling a cement tank on its bed.
Our cistern had arrived. Maybe, just maybe, we actually would get a brand-spanking-new working non-leaking cistern after all.
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| The old cistern is under the small shed beside the truck. |
Once the truck backed up to the waiting hole, this is what happened.
And then this:
And just like that, our new cistern was installed. Brian, Seth, and BIL Nate (who was visiting for his traditional Thanksgiving hunting trip) got down inside it, washed it out, and then Thorosealed it. That cured for a day, and they worked on hooking up the plumbing to the existing lines. They left a pipe going into the existing cistern so that it could backfill when the new cistern was full -- an extra water-storage tank, if you will.
And, finally, finally, finally, Brian backfilled the hole, and we were all set to begin collecting water and using our new cistern (he'll be back in the spring, after the dirt settles a bit, to finish covering it and haul away the rest of the dirt).
Charles returned to fill the tank, congratulated us on a job well done, and figured he'd worked himself out of a job -- since, hopefully, this cistern will hold water and we won't be needing his services as often.
Oh, and Brian's final bill for us? $762. (The tank itself was $2400.) Yeah. Who knew the neighbor down the street installed cisterns? WHO KNEW THE NEIGHBOR DOWN THE STREET INSTALLED CISTERNS?!?
PS -- The cistern was installed mid-December and we haven't had to have it filled since. #winnerwinner
