Pillar (pole) able to sustain a cistern of 1000 litres (250 gallons)

Hi,

I have a plastic water cistern/reservoir (cubic shape, 1000 liters or

250 gallons) and I would like to install it on 4 vertical wood pillars, 4x4 size, at 7-9 ft height. I need some suggestion about the structure in wood to construct in order to be secure. Is this size (4x4) able to sustain the full reservoir? What kind of simple wood structure should I build in order to be secure. How many pillars, how to fix the pillars one to the other, supplementary reinforce, etc. The cistern is not very heavy when is empty (less 50 kilos).

Thank you, Cristian

Reply to
Cristian
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"Cristian" wrote

Well it will be heavy when filled. Water weighs roughly 8.5# per gallon. Cross bracing in is order and it should reinforce the 4x4s to keep them straight. That's a small foot print for the height. Why not on the ground and a small pump?

Reply to
Gary Slusser

I would like to use the fall of the water (no cost) instead of using a pump with extra cost (each time I need water the pump should start, etc). The water is usually used for water the garden.

Cristian

Reply to
Cristian

The pump will be cheaper than an adequate tower.

Reply to
Goedjn

"Cristian" wrote

Unless you use drip irrigation, you won't get the water moving under much pressure with gravity alone. And let's see.... 8.5* 250=2125# plus the weight of the tank, 50# you say although it might be more, especially if it has metal bands around it.... and that's 7-8' high on a foot print of 4'x4' making it extremely top heavy while on a straight up set of legs. They better be in the ground more than a bit and not able to move or twist.

A small utility pump that is gravity fed from the tank that you'd be able to carry around easily might be a good choice, especially for the little bit it would cost to run it. It would also look better but, I'm not usually one for looks over practical, it's more practical, better pressure and neat when you take up the hose you move the pump inside. Or build a little housing for both the hose and pump next to the tank or as a support for the tank. You can buy a lot of electricity with the money you save by not buying the posts etc..

Reply to
Gary Slusser

And how does the water get into the cistern, may I ask? Are you pumping it? If so, the net expenditure of power is exactly the same, except for some small losses. It's called conservation of energy.

Apart from that, balancing a ton 9 feet in the air is tricky business, as others have pointed out, and it isn't going to look very nice either. Of course they do this sort of thing all the time in Mexico. But four 4x4 posts set 2.5 feet deep on some nice flat rocks and then concrete around them with some good X bracing will certainly carry the load, barring an earthquake. You should brace zigzag fashion, i.e., two X's on each of the four sides. And even so, if someone drives into this monument with a pickup, he or she could be killed.

Reply to
donald girod

I don't hava a well on my yard, I take the water from a spring at 2 km from the my little farm, with a 12v submersible pump (car battery). I fill the water in 2 small tanks (on my mini van), care it with my car to the farm and then with the same pump I fill the cistern. Indeed, the process is very strange... but the water is necessary and to make a well I should pay 1/4 of the price of the little farm! The farm is used just during the summer/fall time, so during the winter the cistern is empty. I use the water for water the small garden. Now the cistern is at 1 (one) meter from the ground, enougth for this purpose, but I would like to gain a little pressure of the water. Usually I fill the whole cistern one per week and the water is sufficient for all the week... The cistern is closed to some pines and I could fix the "monument" to be protected from going down.

Supposing I should use a pump (another or the same), what solution should I use to have water all the time I need? An electrical device (could be also incorporated in the pump) should start and pumps the water from the cistern. But this kind of pump is expensive also.

Reply to
Cristian

I think there a number of alternative energy solutions at reasonable prices ShurFlo makes inexpensive($80) 12v pumps with built in pressure switches. Not a lot of flow, about 2 gallons/minute. Google is your friend.

M Hamlin

Reply to
MSH

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