The photograph shows a cistern, 6 by 6 by 12 feet, inside dimensions,
with 8-inch walls, 6-inch floor, and 4-inch roof.
Dig a pit 12 inches deep, and of the size of cistern desired. Cover the
bottom with a well tamped fill of gravel to a depth of 6 inches. Mix
concrete 1: 2: 4 and place it to a depth of 2 inches over the surface
of the fill. On top of this lay sections of heavy woven wire fencing.
This wire should be laid in such a way as to extend 6 inches beyond
the outside edge of foundation—the ends being bent up, so as to stand
upright, 3 inches back from the edge of the concrete flooring already
placed. Immediately lay the remaining 4 inches of concrete floor. Give
the surface a finish with a wooden float to within 6 inches of edges.
Without delay, set the forms, made up in the required sections, resting
the inside form on the concrete floor and the outside form on the
ground. Place the inside form first. After setting the inside form,
place woven fence wire, supporting it against the inside form by means
of staples driven lightly into the form and holding the wire 4 inches
away from it. Care should be taken in placing the concrete that the
wire is kept near the outside of the concrete wall. This reinforcement
is carried 1 foot beyond top of wall. The projecting wire mesh will
later be used to tie the concrete roof to the side walls. The timber
required for the forms will be 1-inch siding and 2 by 4 uprights,
spaced every 18 inches.
In placing the concrete in the forms, it will be easier to leave off
the two top feet of planking of outside form until the concrete reaches
its level. Then add this planking and fill the two top feet. The
concrete will probably have to be passed up to a man on top by means of
buckets.
The luxury of soft water for the bath, and its advantages for laundry
purposes, are understood better by farmers than by their city cousins.
Cisterns were originally built in the ground, but a thinking farmer
used concrete to build a cistern on top of the ground, no doubt taking
the idea from the old-fashioned rain barrel. While it requires more
forms and more reinforcement than a cistern built in the ground, yet
the large cost of digging a deep hole is saved. As the water is piped
to the house, direct water pressure is provided, thereby giving the
farm-house all the advantages of a city water system.
[Illustration]
Build a wooden platform inside the cistern, in the same manner as
directed in UNDERGROUND CISTERNS, page 69. The materials required for
the concrete are 10 yards of crushed rock or screened gravel, 5 yards
of sand, and 17 barrels of Portland cement.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]