Cistern liner

I take it your cistern is leaking. Ours is too. Unfortunately, our cistern's full to the brim and the crack/leak is about 1-1/2 foot from the bottom. HATE wasting the water. Hoping to make it until fall before we have to fix it...again! Our last cistern cleaning/re-coating was almost 6 yrs. ago. I'm thankful it's lasted this long. Let us know how the liner thing works out.

After a lot of research and some crazy estimates I tried this stuff. It is rolled on and forms a waterproof rubber liner

. http://www.sanitred.com/

LuckyGirl56
Same with our cistern - it is full to the brim, started overflowing over a month ago.. It leaks /seeps in the same places it did before we had the cistern re-coated about 4-5yrs ago. One place is at the one bottom corner where the cistern wall and our bottom deck floor intersect and the other places are about 2-3 ft from the bottom on an outside wall facing pool deck. It only leaks when the cistern is 3/4 full and up.

Jumbie -STX

After a lot of research and some crazy estimates I tried this stuff. It is rolled on and forms a waterproof rubber liner

. http://www.sanitred.com/

Thanks Bombi -for the web site. I will ck it out. Question - how long ago did you put this on the cistern walls and is it still preventing water seepage?

Jumbie -STX

We just had one installed earlier this year. The earthquake last August cracked our cistern (and with all the rain lately we've notice it cracked our pump room wall too). We had just had the cistern cleaned/coated 2 years ago and decided the liner was the way to go. We used Paradise Pools (STX) and were very happy with the job.

I don't see on their web site that this coating is NSF approved and safe for drinking water.

Did you find some additional information somewhere else?

Jim

I don't see on their web site that this coating is NSF approved and safe for drinking water.

Did you find some additional information somewhere else?

Jim

Your post may be for Bombi to respond but after I checked the web site Bombi posted it is my opinion the paintable stuff is not for potable water. No where on their web site do you find thier stuff approved by NSF (National Sanitation Foundation). Potable water (water for human consumption) is not mentioned anywhere on their web site that I could find. Nowhere on their site do you see cistern liner applications. The elastomeric paint material they sell is polyurethane based. If I remember my 18 yrs of being a rubber chemist, polyurethane is a no-no for food contact or potable water use.

I'm going the PVC NSF-61 route.

Jumbie-STX

for swimming pool and cistern use you should paint over with an epoxy pool paint

Hi Jumbie - just wanted to know if you've had the cistern liner installed and how you feel about it? Was the installation arduous? Did you have to do anything special to prepare your cistern before installation? Would love to hear any details.

Our cistern has a liner that has fallen down on one side and there is water underneath it. I am thinking of having the whole thing taken out and washed down, since it has been in there a while, but of course it would involve draining the cistern and I don't know what else. So, I am looking for some experiences while I waffle 🙂

jesspa

We love our cistern liner. All the wet spots on outside walls have long ago dried up .We had our cistern liner (NSF 61 PVC 25mil thick) & underlying geo-thermal barrier material installed 11/1 & 11/2. It took 2 days and was done by Paradise Pools (3 guys 1st day & 2 guys 2nd day). The materials were custom made for our cistern dimensions (roughly 10x10x14 ft) and manufactured by DLM Plastics in Findlay, Ohio; web site is: http://www.dlmplastics.com/. They provided a complete listing of instructions on how to install their product(s).

It took 2 days to do this. We started draining the cistern on Sunday so when Paradise Pools came on Monday most of the water had been drained. So the 1st day was finish draining cistern and then cleaning it. The 2nd day was putting up the barrier liner covering the entire block walls/floor) and then the PVC liner. The PVC liner is pressed into a grove (track that had been tapconned) at top of cistern walls like you would spline a screen into a window. DLM Plastics says that it can be done by home owner but we chose to have somebody install our liner that had done it before. To me the work involved with cleaning & installing was "hot & physically hard work".

It sounds as if your cistern liner was not properly or securly attached at the top; causing one side to fall down. Your only solution is to drain and re-do the fastening of the liner material.

Jumbie-STX

But, don't you think the Tapcons will rust and the side fall down as well? Is there a away to attach that this won't happen? I am in need of maybe three of them with all of these earthquakes it seems fruitless to keep resealing.

Tapcons will rust. STAINLESS STEEL SCREWS ARE THE ANSWER. Gallows Bay Hardware has a huge selection of stainless steel screws and other stainless steel items: hasp, gate hinges, etc......STAINLESS STEEL is YOUR BEST BET.

Quote from DLM Plastics --

"The primary cause of liner failure is almost always mechanical damage or puncture from ladder feet, sharp objects being dropped on the liner or heavy tools being dropped on the liner. This is in part why I like the bead edge and bead track system so well. This method eliminates a lot of the opportunities for accidents.DLM has liners in service that exceed 20 years. Cistern liners do not see a lot of activity or abuse so their life is really good. Overuse of bleach in the water is the primary cause of premature failure(besides mechanical damage). With improvements to sediment traps in recent years for the input side of the cistern as well as cartridge filters and UV light water purification systems on the output side many people are not using any chemical water treatment Drill through the holes in the bead track into the cistern walls and then fasten the track to the walls with concrete screws such as TapCons 3/16” Dia x 1-3/4” Long. After cleaning up any debris the underlayment can be taken into the cistern.

There is no perfect solution to anything but for what it's worth -the concrete screws we used were stainless steel.

Jumbie -STX

Kevin with Clearwater knows all about Cistern coatings
772-3881
643-7903

Thanks for all the info!

There are other cistern coatings that have elastic properties allowing for some movement, and that are drinking water safe.
Contact Lenn DePalma, owner/operator of AquaTek, at 642-0519 for details.
He handled work for Diagio, and did a fab job on resurfacing/plumbing a friends leaky pool and cisterns. Highly recommended.

You can purchase Stainless Steel Tapcons. On STX the source I found is Roof Tops. Used them to re secure my storm shutters where the fifteen year old Tapcons had rusted badly.

Jim