Build a well/retention basin/cistern yourself

Hello dear forum community,

I am currently thinking a lot about our house construction. In the process, I also came across the topic of using our own rainwater. There are quite a few alternatives – often described is a cistern with X1000 liters and a sophisticated pump system.... For me, however, costs and benefits must be in proportion to each other.

But what do I actually want? I would like to make our rainwater usable exclusively for the garden area. In my parents' house, we had a rainwater barrel that regularly had to be emptied during heavy rain and froze in winter. I am looking for a solution that is frost-proof and larger or that can be integrated in such a way that the annoying emptying of the water barrel is eliminated.

I had also thought of a buried version and also a pump that would then have to be used out of necessity. However, I am not willing to spend 3000 euros for it.

Whatever the solution may be, I am not ashamed to deal with it myself and get my hands dirty. I want a long-term but also good solution.

If you have ideas and suggestions or your own experiences, please share them with me.

Best regards Ralf

Hello dear forum community,

...
If you have ideas and suggestions or your own experiences, please share them with me

Best regards
Ralf

Our previous owner buried such a cistern in the ground (since no rainwater discharge was possible), whose overflow seeps away into a soakaway. The water is extracted with a simple submersible pump, in the supply line of which I installed a radio switch.

Usage: Always enough water available (even in the last - here extremely dry - weeks). No emptying necessary, due to seepage. No freezing, because underground - even the pump stayed in the water over the winter.

For me a brilliant solution. Costs unfortunately unknown.

der Steph

Four years ago I buried a cistern to save on rainwater fees.

The rainwater pipes had to be redone because the slope was in the wrong direction.

A 4 m³ tank was buried. However, a slightly larger one would probably have been better.

An underground infiltration of the water was not possible because there are many trees and shrubs in the garden. In addition, a permit would have had to be obtained for 100 €.

If there is too much water, it is pumped out with a normal cheap sewage pump, which was positioned fairly high up in the tank. Another one is located at the very bottom. This one is switched on as needed by a water level switch. Furthermore, this pump is also used to water the garden.

Since there is no filter here, the water is not suitable for a lawn sprinkler and such a pump also does not generate particularly high pressure. Therefore, if necessary, a 1-inch hose with free outlet is laid where water is needed. Certainly a bit awkward but it works.

I let the excess water infiltrate on the surface. For this purpose, on one side of the garden I laid 75 mm sewage pipes above ground with a slight slope, which I slit with a saw. Due to the planting, this pipe is really only visible in winter or spring. Which does not really bother. After all, when are you in the garden in winter anyway? And if there is snow, it is not visible either.

Everything was done by myself.

I can’t tell you the exact costs now, but it should have been around 1500 €. This amount also includes a very expensive (>300 €) drainage channel which collects the water from the driveway.

I hope I could help you a little.

By the way, of course the pumps remain in the tank during winter.

Hello. We have a soakaway shaft where our rainwater from the roof runs into. In front of this, we have installed a cistern with a capacity of 4500 l and connected a cheap hardware store pump. The cistern is hidden underground, so nothing freezes there. Our pump cost around 150 euros and the cistern around 800-1000 euros. I can only estimate the excavation work at about 200 euros. Overall, it is not a big effort, but if you look at it from an economic perspective, it takes quite a while for something like this to pay off. However, the feeling of "almost free" watering is a nice one...