Friday, September 14, 2012

Underground Water Tank Installation


It was a pretty hard day for an old cripple like me. I got that tank prepped to go down in the ground. I plumbed a 90 elbow and the 1" water line on.
I also put a 90 elbow on the line inside the cistern, after cutting the line off pretty short. Then I put on a piece of 1"line here too. I plan to connect the two lines together and tuck them down along the side of the tank as low as possible. I'll have a rope tied on so I can access the connections if need be. I'm pretty sure that the lines won't freeze down there. I think, I hope. I was thinking about installing a short heat tape on each line just incase they did freeze off, but I did'nt have heat tape, and I don't think I'm going to get any either because it is too late now anyway. It aint going to freeze. That's 10 feet below grade on the bottom. I'm ready for some gravel now.

I built myself a real quick sump to put down there. Just so I can monitor if ground water is seeping in or not. I have a pump that was supposed to be able to slide down between the tank and wall and into this sump, but it turned out, that pump wont fit. My calculations said it should, but I have come to the conclusion that the culvert is a little bit oblong in that spot. If I put the sump in a different spot, it would have had lots of room as planned. I'll just have to keep my eyes open for a pump that will fit, incase it needs pumping.
I put in about 1.75 yards of gravel. It's pretty deep, so it should be able to take on a fair bit of water before my tank should decide to float away.
Then some pressure treated plywood for an nice flat bottom.
And then the tank.
Down she goes.
Carefully letting it down. It seems the fittings are still in tact. Guess I'll find out when I put some water in there.

Thats good for this day. Tomorrow I'll get it all hooked up and get the water happening again.
 I did'nt really have to put this tank in the ground. I just wanted to try this out. It'll save me spending a bunch of money on concrete and I think it will also be alot more sanitary this way. If it works, that's good, if not, I'll move to plan B. I bought these two tanks for a Texas mickey of vodka. This tank will easily hold more than 4.5 cubic meters of water. When I lived in town, my water consumption was usually 3-4 cubic meters of water according to my utility bill. So that is more than a months worth of water. I don't think I would want to utilize the whole volume of the cistern as I think the water would be sitting too long and could go stagnate. The top of the tank is 5 feet below grade. I think I'll put some plastic over the tank and lay some insulation right on top of it. I believe this should keep those two water lines from freezing even when the outside temps are minus -40 degrees Celcius  or Farenheit. (They are both the same at that temp).


Disclaimer--IMPORTANT


This is a personal blog, mainly for my own use. I am building a house with my own two hands, but I am learning alot of things as I go. I do not claim to know what I am doing, or if anything I do is even close to being done correctly or safely. So please, if you are planning on using any of my ideas or methods for your own use, please get professional advice before actually following through with your actions. I will not be held responsible for any injuries or damages of any kind caused by information or comments from this blog.

13 comments:

  1. Boy, that sounds complicated. So much easier to stick a pvc pipe two metres down into the water and drawing it up with a hand pump. Guess there are a few advantages living on top of the water. Plus, we don't have to worry about frozen pipes. On the other hand, we don't have flush toilets or hot and cold running water in the bathroom. - Margy

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  2. lol. Ya your method does sound a lot more simple to rig up Margy, but once I'm rigged, life will be good as long as something don't go too terribly wrong with the system.

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  3. How about wrapping the 1" pvc pipe with heavy foam A/C insulation, that should protect it from the cold. My thinking is that cold air sinks and it my get to your exposed pipe.

    Love what your doing...keep up the posts

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    1. Hey Riverhauler. Cold air does sink if I leave the cistern wide open, but the ground down below gives off heat. If I insulate the top of the tank, I think it should hold enough warmth to keep things from freezing. I'm going to monitor it closely with a thermometer down there this winter and see what's going on. I will keep you posted on that.

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  4. You didn't mention what type of insulation you were planning on using for the top, but I would thing a layer of straw bales would work well, if you have access to that in your area.

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    1. Hey Riverhauler, the lid I built for it is built out of 2x4 framing and insulated with batt insulation. With just that and some snow shoveled around the top part of the cistern, I think would be good. But, for extra measure, I think I will place some batt insulation right on top of the tank inside the cistern, closing off the gap between the tank and wall of the cistern, to help hold warmth from the gound below the tank level. Straw would work too, but I think I'll use insulation. I have some extra scraps laying around looking for a place to be.

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  5. i'm impressed... says she who knows nothing about any of this. :)
    nice progress!

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  6. Thanks Lynnanne. It's not all that complicated, just a tank connected to the house for water supply.

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  7. That sure looks like a lot of work, but it’s good that, in the end, the water storage tank had been installed properly. Anyway, does it have a water treatment system inside? Water storage tanks should be sterilized at least one a year, so that bacteria do not breed and contaminate the water. One easy way to do it is to use bleach when cleaning the tank. You can use 1 cup of bleach for every 4 gallons of water. But, if you’re cleaning the tank on a regular basis, you can use 1 cup for every 10 gallons of water.


    @Richelle Loughney

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  9. Nice post!!! Thanks for sharing such a nice knowledgeable post.I will use this technique in Water Main Installations

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