could anyone inform me on cisterns? (Hinton, Wayne: houses, buying, live)

[spldcnd]

We've looked at a few houses in WV and a few have cisterns, which I know they hold water supplys, but why not just use your well water? Some homes we looked at or seen on the internet have a well plus 1 or 2 cisterns? Does it have to do with the water levels there? Just curious why?For example 1 house had a well for the kitchen but you had to haul in water for the cistern for bathing and laundry?? Is this something common there? Is this a bad thing? Just curious, maybe we're just looking at the wrong houses??

[Hinton Bound]

A cistern is usually required if you have a low GPM flow rate from your well. It basically pumps a reservoir full of usable water because the well doesn't deliver enough water to meet demand.
If you're concerned about it, ask the home owner to explain the system, and why they have it. I have a cistern that fills from springs. I prefer to use that water instead of the two wells that I have. The wells work and produce plenty of water, so for me it's a personal choice to use the cistern.
~Mark

[spldcnd]

Originally Posted by Hinton Bound

A cistern is usually required if you have a low GPM flow rate from your well. It basically pumps a reservoir full of usable water because the well doesn't deliver enough water to meet demand.
If you're concerned about it, ask the home owner to explain the system, and why they have it. I have a cistern that fills from springs. I prefer to use that water instead of the two wells that I have. The wells work and produce plenty of water, so for me it's a personal choice to use the cistern.
~Mark

A spring fed cistern i can understand, but one that you have go into town for and put quarters in a machine to fill a tank then take it home and fill the cistern I would think would be an inconvience, specially after awhile.The realator says it's no big deal, but I think it would be after yrs. of doing this? Then I see these machines in town and wonder if this is what alot of people do? Thankfully only a few house were like this.But I can see one that fills itself would really be no big deal..thank-you for your info.

[snorpus]

There are a variety of reasons.

Wells are relatively costly. The builder may have decided to put in a cistern first, filling it from a spring or from the roof, then later added the well.

The well water might be suitable for bathing and clothes washing, but have an off taste/odor that precluded use for cooking.

The well might occasionally run dry; the cistern provides an inventory to draw from in that case.

The water in the cistern is available in case of a fire.

It does seem that buying and hauling water yourself would get old, quickly. Here in WPa, some of the VFDs will deliver water (for a price, of course).

As Mark said, ask.

[Hinton Bound]

Originally Posted by spldcnd

...but one that you have go into town for and put quarters in a machine to fill a tank then take it home and fill the cistern I would think would be an inconvience, specially after awhile...

When you said "haul in" in original post, I thought you meant from your property! If you have to go in to town to buy water, that's a problem- at least for me. I would suspect that the ground water is contaminated, or otherwise non-potabe. Caveat Emptor.

[David Kennedy]

And these cisterns? are they new?

Are they from the dust bowl drought of the 1930's when the springs dried up and people rain guttered their homes and collected water in cisterns...

In southwestern Greene county, Pa, deep longwall mining destroyed the water table and many farms had to haul water from services in Waynesburg, Pa.

also: Some water tables might be shallow and the cistern would be used as a holding facility...pumps being activated periodically by timers to keep the cistern full...