Hello,
I have a question regarding the offered cistern. Our development plan states the following:
The general contractor suggested that we install a cistern in the garden.
The current offer includes a cistern with a capacity of 4,000 liters (1,057 gallons).
The plot is approximately 540 m² (5,813 sq ft) in total. The house will be roughly 10 m x 11 m (33 ft x 36 ft), plus a double garage of 6 m x 6 m (20 ft x 20 ft), and a terrace...
Do you think this size is too small?
I have a question regarding the offered cistern. Our development plan states the following:
C 3. Water Management
C 3.1 The hardening of open areas should be limited to a minimum. Parking spaces and driveways should be paved with permeable surfaces (e.g., grass pavers, paving with grass joints, gravel turf, or similar).
C 3.2 The uncontaminated rainwater collected on private properties must be retained on the site and infiltrated or used as non-potable water.
Only wastewater must be directed to the sewage treatment plant.
C 3.3 A management concept must be developed and coordinated with SGD Süd, RS WAB, Neustadt for the disposal/use of rainwater that is not significantly polluted.
The general contractor suggested that we install a cistern in the garden.
The current offer includes a cistern with a capacity of 4,000 liters (1,057 gallons).
The plot is approximately 540 m² (5,813 sq ft) in total. The house will be roughly 10 m x 11 m (33 ft x 36 ft), plus a double garage of 6 m x 6 m (20 ft x 20 ft), and a terrace...
Do you think this size is too small?
At the moment, I am considering whether it might be more practical to choose a significantly smaller rainwater cistern and have a well drilled to refill the cistern when it runs dry. This would probably be more cost-effective. The general contractor estimated €4,200 for the 4,000-liter (1,057-gallon) cistern.
We also had a cistern installed.
It has a volume of 7800 liters (2050 gallons) and was filled completely within 5 days after the last storms. The house has a 45° roof pitch; base area is 8.2 by 10.5 meters (27 by 34 feet).
We also considered drilling a well.
However, it would have needed to be at least 30 meters (98 feet) deep, and that makes a well significantly more expensive. So it depends. If you need a cistern anyway, I think a larger one would be more practical and cost-effective.
We don’t have to have a cistern, but we like having water in the summer to easily refill the paddling pool for the kids regularly or to water the plants thoroughly, so we don’t have to worry about it.
A cistern probably won’t pay for itself if used only for garden irrigation.
What kind of pump do you have? We’re still looking and haven’t decided yet whether to go for an automatic pressure submersible pump or a simple one with an additional switch.
Currently, water is pumped out with a simple garden pump, but that’s not meant to be a permanent solution.
How do you drain the hoses in winter? Using compressed air?
It has a volume of 7800 liters (2050 gallons) and was filled completely within 5 days after the last storms. The house has a 45° roof pitch; base area is 8.2 by 10.5 meters (27 by 34 feet).
We also considered drilling a well.
However, it would have needed to be at least 30 meters (98 feet) deep, and that makes a well significantly more expensive. So it depends. If you need a cistern anyway, I think a larger one would be more practical and cost-effective.
We don’t have to have a cistern, but we like having water in the summer to easily refill the paddling pool for the kids regularly or to water the plants thoroughly, so we don’t have to worry about it.
A cistern probably won’t pay for itself if used only for garden irrigation.
Doc.Schnaggls schrieb:
We have an automatic pump in the cistern that starts by itself as soon as water is drawn from an outdoor faucet.
Regards,
Dirk
What kind of pump do you have? We’re still looking and haven’t decided yet whether to go for an automatic pressure submersible pump or a simple one with an additional switch.
Currently, water is pumped out with a simple garden pump, but that’s not meant to be a permanent solution.
How do you drain the hoses in winter? Using compressed air?
B
Bieber08154 Jul 2016 10:39McEgg schrieb:
The general contractor suggested that the best solution would be to install a cistern in the garden. In my opinion, the size mentioned should be sufficient. How is the infiltration supposed to take place then?
D
Doc.Schnaggls4 Jul 2016 11:06jfkgerd schrieb:
What kind of pump do you have? We’re still searching and undecided whether to choose an automatic pressure submersible pump or a simple one with an additional switch.We have an automatic pressure submersible pump from Gardena. It’s quite convenient when you just connect the hose and the pump starts running.
But it can backfire...
At first, we left the hose connected to the hose reel right at the water outlet. Until that hot Sunday came, when we wondered who had been watering their garden for 45 minutes—we were sitting inside with the blinds down (we didn’t have the awning yet :cool ).
After 45 minutes, I wanted to check and was very surprised where the approximate 10 m (33 ft) high fountain in our garden was coming from...
Actually, the hose had come loose from the coupling, and the strong pump had completely drained our full cistern all over the garden, which looked more like a rice field after that...
Since then, we always disconnect the hose—then this kind of thing doesn’t happen anymore.
jfkgerd schrieb:
How do you drain the hoses in winter? Compressed air?Our water outlet is located lower than the pump in the cistern—so the pump is disconnected from power, lifted out of the water, and then (with a short hose) attached to the water outlet to suck the line empty.
Regards,
Dirk
Doc.Schnaggls schrieb:
We have an automatic pump in the cistern that starts on its own as soon as water is taken from a water outlet.
Comfortably, the world goes to ruin.
We have the pump connected with a 20 m (65 ft) cable to the outdoor socket. Inside, we only need to operate the switch for the outdoor socket, and the pump starts. When we no longer need the water, we switch it off.
Doc.Schnaggls schrieb:
Our water outlet is lower than the pump in the cistern – therefore, the pump is disconnected from the power, lifted out of the water, and then (with a short hose) attached to the water outlet and the pipe is drained.Our pump is located lower than the sockets.
Last year we still used a "transparent" hose between the pump and the connection box. That made it very easy to observe how the water completely flowed back (even without a drainage valve).
McEgg schrieb:
At the moment, I’m considering whether it might make more sense to install a significantly smaller cistern and drill a well to refill the cistern when it’s empty.
That would probably be more cost-effective. The general contractor estimated €4,200 for the 4,000-liter (1,057-gallon) cistern.Just to clarify, we have a similarly sized garden and last year (which was very dry) we used about 30 cubic meters (7,925 gallons) of water. At around €6 for water plus sewage costs (assuming you can’t be exempt from sewage charges), that’s about €15 per month.
If you have to finance the €4,200 at around 1.5%, the cistern only pays off after about 29 years. (Assuming the cistern never runs empty during those 29 years.) Considering electricity costs for the pump, possible repairs, etc., the payback period would quickly extend to around 35 to 40 years.
For someone who doesn’t necessarily need to build a cistern, it probably never makes financial sense.
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