A TANK FOR THE TIMES

Image Gallery This homebuilt cistern stores water for my garden and livestock, and is designed to give years of trouble-free service. INSET: The wire walls ""end loop"" fastening details.

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At relatively little expense and with a weekend's work, you can construct ...

Ron Finley

I run what I like to refer to as an acre-and-a-quarter mini-farm in central Arkansas, and—even on my small spread—I've found that I need water storage facilities for the garden, livestock, and such. However, when I went to purchase a 1,000 gallon galvanized tank at the local farm supply house, its $200 price inspired me to design my own vessel ...and the result was so successful that I felt I had to share my "secret" with MOTHER's readers.

The method I use allows me to fabricate tanks of almost any capacity-up to 3,500 gallons—to suit the terrain and my needs ...and the cost of the 3' X 10', 1,762—gallon reservoir I've chosen to detail here is only about $34, a mere fraction of that of a commercial vessel of similar capacity.

To duplicate my tank, you'll have to take a trip to your local hardware or farm store (or lumberyard) and purchase [1 ] a 3' X 50' roll of 14gauge, 2" X 4" welded wire, [2] a roll of 3'-wide, 30-pound organic asphalt roofing felt (don't use roll roofing, which has a coating of rough pebbles on one side), [3] a 20' X 100' roll of 4-mil black Visqueen plastic, and [4] in case you don't already have them, some washed sand and a short length of stiff wire or coat hanger. (Of course, depending on the size of the tank you want to build, you may not use every foot of material purchased ...but you can save any leftovers for a second reservoir—or another project—in order to keep your cost-per-container down.)

After you've collected the material, begin leveling the area where you intend to set up your tank. Don't treat this step lightly, because if the ground isn't quite flat beneath the vessel, the container's restraining wire could warp under the water's weight. The best way to guarantee a level bed is to first mark off, using a central spike and a length of heavy cord, a circle of the desired diameter (in this case, ten feet). Then stretch another cord between two pegs driven into the ground opposite each other—at the circle's edge, and lay a carpenter's level along the string to determine how much the base might have to be reworked. By moving the pegs "around the clock" a few feet at a time, you'll eventually be able to even out the earthen foundation.

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