Cisterns: An Age-Old Way to Save Water

Posted on June 3, 2008
Tag(s): Going Green, Green Building, The Great Green Outdoors
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In areas where water is scarce, the use of cisterns to capture and store rainwater has been common practice. Rainwater is collected from a roof or catchment area and stored in an artificial well that can be located above ground or in its historical location underground. It can store up to 10,000 gallons of water to be used for many purposes for indoor and outdoor water needs.

Quick tips on rainwater:

1” of rain on a 1,000 square foot roof yields over 600 gallons of water
Rain water is naturally soft water, devoid of harmful chemicals, making it
perfect for use on your lawn and garden
Up to 40% of summer water use is for irrigation—if you can reduce the
amount of city water you use on your lawn, you can significantly reduce your
water bill

Special equipment, such as an appropriate type of roofing, gutter guards, and roof washers, is needed to filter the water running into the tank. Metal roofs are ideal for this use, plus they are very long-lasting, durable, and energy-efficient. Gutter guards keep out leaves and twigs. A roof washer is a “trap” to collect the first flow of dirty water from the roof when the rain starts. A chlorination system must be in place if the water is to be used for human or animal consumption.

Source: West Virginia University (pdf)