cistern rootcellar?

[frontiergal]

I was thinking that you could put a cistern in the ground and then build a pantry over it and have it then of course attached to the kitchen.
What things should I consider and plan for if I did this?

[rambler]

Well, are you looking to have a cistern for water, or a root celler for cool storage of produce?

How does the pantry fit into either one?

Are you saying you want to build a basement thingie beside your house, and on top of that build an addition thing that will be a pantry sized storage dealie?

How will you gain access to the basement dealie if it is a root cellar, or how will you put a pantry on top of it if it is for water storage?

I'm not quite following along with the program, perhaps I should just go to bed!

--->Paul

[Forerunner]

Just yesterday I was doing a little backhoe work for a neighbor and, after we were finished, he invited me in to see some of the workings of his basement/well/old style refrigeration system....

The folks who built the house back in the mid-1800s had poured a little concrete dike about 14 inches deep and four or five times the size of an average bathtub. It was on a level so that a valve could be opened to trickle water from the adjacent well--not cistern, well-- into the water containment reservoir and then out a small drain. The cold water flow kept cans and jars of milk and cream refrigerated, plus a nearby area to keep produce fresh.
I suppose I'd just set up the pantry in the room upstairs and not worry about incorporating it into a cold water storage system.

[Windy in Kansas]

Originally Posted by Forerunner

basement/well/old style refrigeration system....

The folks who built the house back in the mid-1800s had poured a little concrete dike about 14 inches deep and four or five times the size of an average bathtub. It was on a level so that a valve could be opened to trickle water from the adjacent well--not cistern, well-- into the water containment reservoir and then out a small drain. The cold water flow kept cans and jars of milk and cream refrigerated, plus a nearby area to keep produce fresh.

That is very much like the old spring house concept. Relatives of ours had the same basic idea along similar principals. Their over head water tank fed water into a a concrete formation kind of like an really oversized utility sink, i.e. a raised platform with tall curbing. They could set milk cans, watermelons, soda pop or whatever into it to keep the items cold.

[deb]

Originally Posted by frontiergal

I was thinking that you could put a cistern in the ground and then build a pantry over it and have it then of course attached to the kitchen.
What things should I consider and plan for if I did this?

If you are putting a cistern under a building need to figure out how to support the building if the cistern fails.

Friends had a cistern under their house that damaged the foundation of the house. We have one under the summer kitchen that may be giving way too.

deb
in wi

[frontiergal]

To make myself a little bit clearer I plan on using the cistern as a rootcellar and then build the building on top of it (the pantry) and a trap door to get into it.

[Shepherd]

I've been wanting both a cistern and a root cellar. I've heard somethng from a few about dangerous fumes from inside a cistern. Does anyone know anything about this?

[prometheus]

I had planned on using our spring house to store our root crops. I'm actually in the process of digging a separate root cellar now because of problems arising from keeping the water clean. Next year I will build a designated underground cool house using the water from the 4" overflow out of the spring house. Good luck, maybe you can figure out how to keep your drinking water clean with food storage above it.

[cindy71]

Originally Posted by Windy in Kansas

That is very much like the old spring house concept. Relatives of ours had the same basic idea along similar principals. Their over head water tank fed water into a a concrete formation kind of like an really oversized utility sink, i.e. a raised platform with tall curbing. They could set milk cans, watermelons, soda pop or whatever into it to keep the items cold.

How cold would you say it keeps things?

[Pony]

Originally Posted by cindy71

How cold would you say it keeps things?

I'm thinking it would probably be around 50* F.

Nick and I were tossing this idea around as well. Can't decide, though, if we want to clean up the cistern and use it for its intended purpose, or use it to keep things cool. Then, we got to wondering if we could do something along the lines of what Frontiergal is suggesting.

For sure, though, we're going to build an addition over the cistern. It would be great to be able to pump the water right up into the kitchen.