[coyotech]

I hope so. But if anyone sees where I’m figuring wrong, like the one comment that aircrete might not be the best, or you can see that the top won’t hold up when I start building it, I’ll be happy to hear it and appreciate it. I haven’t built or used a cistern before.

[coyotech]

True, but no problem with tree roots here. I’ll look into aircrete more. Maybe just use concrete … I’ll be mixing it bag by bag down in the hole, so there’s probably no big advantage to that. Like stucco, only more water proof and less crumbly.

[coyotech]

Yes, I was thinking of cattle panels and chicken wire to hold up the concrete/aircrete, like stucco. That was a good find on your tanks. No problem with tree roots where I am. It’s mesquite trees here and there, and I rarely disturb a mesquite, since I like them. My land is so easy to work with – I don’t even have caliche or big rocks! I’ll need to grade the ground around the cistern to keep water from running into it and collapsing behind it when it rains, and maybe stuff on the ground to keep the dogs from digging behind the cinder blocks. Not much you can do about the pack rats, ground squirrels and other burrowers, but I haven’t heard complaints about rodents chewing through liners, especially with the concrete behind it.