Rangerfan558
New Member
I have a 48" diameter by approx 20ft deep cistern made of stacked on end, concrete tiles that are 48" diameter by 48" tall. This cistern was abandoned in the late 60's as our primary water source due to a large capacity user drilling twin wells to fill a commercial swimming pool. This dried up the source on my well. We in turn, drilled a 120 ft deep well which serves our potable water needs.
Lately the flow into the bottom of the cistern is strong enough to be able to fill the entire diameter up to just short of ground level. It never completely goes dry any more in the summer months.
The Cistern has failed, in the respect that it will leak out (under pressure) from the lap joints of the tile, and the bung holes that are used to lift these drainage tiles when used in a normal fashion. I see this because I have been pumping it out with a large 3" capacity gas pump and watching the water flow back into the cistern WITH FORCE through the joins and the bung holes. The bottom feed must be a spring, when I pump below it the 2" hole shoots water under enough pressure to shoot 3 foot out.
I need to fill this cistern in for insurance reasons. I'd like to drop a 1-1/4' poly pipe in the well right in front of that bottom source, for a 1/2hp Jet pump and tank, to supply my irrigation need for my large garden. This will cut use on my deep well also, as I water nightly. I suppose I need a casing of some sort as I will need to fill the bottom with 3-4ft of concrete, then patch the rest of the way up with hydraulic cement, before back filling with sand/gravel/rocks.
Does anyone have experience in any of this?
Lately the flow into the bottom of the cistern is strong enough to be able to fill the entire diameter up to just short of ground level. It never completely goes dry any more in the summer months.
The Cistern has failed, in the respect that it will leak out (under pressure) from the lap joints of the tile, and the bung holes that are used to lift these drainage tiles when used in a normal fashion. I see this because I have been pumping it out with a large 3" capacity gas pump and watching the water flow back into the cistern WITH FORCE through the joins and the bung holes. The bottom feed must be a spring, when I pump below it the 2" hole shoots water under enough pressure to shoot 3 foot out.
I need to fill this cistern in for insurance reasons. I'd like to drop a 1-1/4' poly pipe in the well right in front of that bottom source, for a 1/2hp Jet pump and tank, to supply my irrigation need for my large garden. This will cut use on my deep well also, as I water nightly. I suppose I need a casing of some sort as I will need to fill the bottom with 3-4ft of concrete, then patch the rest of the way up with hydraulic cement, before back filling with sand/gravel/rocks.
Does anyone have experience in any of this?