Cistern turned pond

[guitarman023]

Had some questions for you guys. I have a cistern that I'm thinking may make a perfect pond. It's 10x8x8, and in a pretty good location. I'm in ohio and I've already familarized myself with the local regulations on having a body of water that deep in the yard. I'm just wondering if any of you have done a similar project. I did notice a couple cracks in the concrete, and I plan on using hydraulic cement once I drain the cistern and block off the gutter pipes that feed it. I would also like to coat the concrete with a sealer paint. Do you guys think this sounds like it would make a decent pond? I currently have about a 600 gallon pond which my koi have outgrown.

 

[DrCase]

you could always line it if tit doesn't hold water

 

[guitarman023]

yeah, I've just looked at the cost of liner, and I would need a 20'x20' liner if I went 4' deep, which is just out of my budget.

 

[guitarman023]

I think liner is the way to go, I'm worried about the cracks in the wall not being static and cracking again after patching. I'm also planning on filling the cistern in some, the 8 ft depth worries me a bit.

Here's the cistern when I bought the house with a rotted swing
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:3040]

And here it is with the lid removed.
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:3041]

 

[guitarman023]

Ok, so I've decided that my 9' deep cistern is a bit scary, so the plan is, to knock down the middle filter wall and fill the cistern up to about 5'. I just received the pump I ordered from ebay. It's 800gph for now, since I only have three koi's and another pump rated for 400gph. I also purchased a 20'x18' liner that shipped today. I plan on filling in the cistern this weekend, with the concrete from the lid, and fill dirt I have stashed in the woods. I should have pics for monday. I'm still looking for decent ideas on how to do the filtration. I have a nice plastic pot currently, that doesn't look like a filter at all, just need to shop around and see if I can find a bigger pot for the bigger pump.

 

[guitarman023]

Here's the current pond with the hidden filter. The input hose is buried and then ran up the back of the barrel for a clean look.

[sharedmedia=gallery:images:2172]

 

[sissy]

looks like it will be sturdy and not sure if water ran in around the liner in there and if it might float your liner up .I would break some of the bottom and put sand as a filler

 

[guitarman023]

it has one pipe which goes to my gutters, which I've already re-routed, but yeah I plan on breaking the bottom up some. It has some big cracks in it and it's going to be a lot cheaper to line it than fix the cracks and epoxy coat everything.

 

[sissy]

course sand is cheap and if you have a truck even cheaper if you pick it up yourself .Remember your liner will settle down from the weight of the water .Mine settled over 4 inches and I have clay soil

 

[guitarman023]

I plan on putting at least a foot of sand under the liner on top of the dirt

 

[guitarman023]

I had some time to work on the cistern this week and I knocked down the center filter wall and started filling it in with sand. The concrete place a mile from my house sells coarse sand for 10 bucks a ton, so a few trips with my truck should take care of the filling.

[sharedmedia=gallery:images:3046]
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:3045]

 

[sissy]

wow you don't realize how deep it really is until you put the ladder in there .geeze

 

[addy1]

That sucker is deep! will make a great pond

 

[guitarman023]

yup, it was just under 9ft deep. I'm shooting for 4 and 5 ft depths

 

[sissy]

geeze thats a basement for a small house .Lucky you to at least have a start and nice solid walls .Sure not gonna cave in on the sides .