Hi Abe,
Thank you for the thoughtful response. I've seen this link before and I'm interested.
I'm curious though why you say it would be cheaper to go the route you mentioned. When looking at the list of materials (such as 5 pieces of sheet metal, 50 ft of angle iron, 50 ft of metal strip, 9 pieces of pvc, 6 pieces of rebar, 18 ft x 18 ft vinyl tarp, etc.) and comparing that to a rock water cistern, it seems the rock water cistern list would be much cheaper. The only materials that I'm aware of would be rock, cement, gravel, sand, and a few smaller pieces for the water outlet/fixtures. Most of the materials I need for that are free. Is there something I'm missing? I'm very aware that there might be. I'm new to this. I realize that concrete can get expensive, but mixing with sand, gravel would make it much cheaper I'm thinking.
My other reason for wanting to build a rock water cistern is: from what I understand concrete can be found with non-toxic materials, therefore would be fine for drinking as long as we filter it. With many other cisterns it looks like the tank would need to be lined with some sort of plastic, which I'm less excited about. Most plastics are going to break down at some point, yes? I realize that concrete is porous and can be a magnet for toxic materials, but as long as there is only rainwater going in and it's well-filtered when used for drinking, it should be better to drink than anything from plastic.
Any thoughts would be fantastic. I'd like to make the best decision for us in the long run, so feel free to play the devils advocate.
