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Letter Re: Advice on Potential Uses for a Disused Underground Cistern

Hello Jim,
Thank you for your blog, it is a great source of information.
My new house is a ranch with an unfinished poured foundation basement. Adjacent to the basement is a poured foundation cistern that lies underneath the attached garage. The cistern does collect a little bit of water via a drainage channel in the front of my garage that is at the end of my downward sloping driveway. This cistern is roughly 10'x12' and at least 8' deep. I do have access to the cistern via an drop-in entry in the garage floor. The cistern is obviously sealed off from the basement that it is attached to. My question is, what is the best use for this space? It holds anywhere from 0"-4" of water at at any given time, and is not incredibly easily accessible, but I still feel like I should be utilizing it in some way. Do you have any suggestions on how to utilize this space? Thanks! - Mark H.

JWR Replies: My first thought is that unless you have gravity fed spring water piped to your house, then you ought to use the cistern for its originally-intended purpose. Keep it lightly chlorinated and full at all times. Even if you have an alternative energy system to power a well pump, the cistern will give you a good backup source of water in the event that you ever have problems with your pump or power system.

If you do have reliable gravity fed spring water piped to your house, then the cistern space provides some interesting possibilities for a hidden cache or a fallout shelter. Perhaps some readers would care to chime in. (As with all other letters and articles, if you care to comment, just e-mail me, and I will post selected letters anonymously.) In particular, ideas on camouflaging the entrance trap door would be appreciated.

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