Cistern No Gutters

It is more important that you have unrestricted flow into the cistern.

Cistern no gutters.

If you join too many downspouts before they enter the cistern you could have a constriction that would be problematic. Sweep all debris from the roof and gutters leading to the chosen downspout by using a broom. Traditionally this involves harvesting the rain from a roof. Remember that the x section of a 4 pipe is twice that of a 3 pipe.

The rain will collect in gutters that channel the water into downspouts and then into some sort of storage vessel. Cistern covers are 2 x2 and are cast in the floor. The cistern typically located underground may be constructed of various materials including cinderblock reinforced concrete or precast concrete fiberglass or steel. I chose to use 2x6 material because i had it handy but if you choose to u.

This is a cistern i made from some pressure treated 2x6 material and a 55 gallon plastic juice drum. A system of gutters and downspouts directs the rainwater collected by the roof to the storage cistern. The water was collected from the roof gutters. The water might have been used by the household if there was no city water at the time.

I got the used drum locally for 15 and the wood came from my scrap bin. Rainwater harvesting is collecting the run off from a structure or other impervious surface in order to store it for later use.