Can you Dig it?

Help us finish the excavation of the cistern...

Our interns Maria and Thomas, and several volunteers have been hard at work excavating the old 6,000 gallon cistern that will be the center piece of our water harvesting system.

Once connected to the adjacent roofs (3 buildings) our system will be able to capture 40,000 gallon during a season  The cistern is 22 feet long, 4 feet wide and 7 feet deep.   Next to it is another, already excavated, 1,000 gallon cistern.  Both cisterns were part of an hydroponic greenhouse operating until the 1980's.

The cistern and a booster pump will be directly connected to our irrigation system,  The well will be feeding the cistern when rain water is not falling.

We are eager to finish the excavation of the cistern so we can fill it up and be ready for the growing season.  As you may know, we have expanded our cultivated area to twice the size we were cultivating last season.  We are about 45% done and have reached the bottom of the cistern on one side.

We are postponing the drilling of a new well until our water harvesting system is in place.  We may be able to sustain our irrigation needs with the cistern alone.

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Our crew is working on the cistern excavation everyday.  Tasks include digging, sifting debris and pushing wheelbarrows.  If you have an hour or two to spare, please consider joining us.  Any help will speed up the process.   Most days, we have lunch together, with soup provided by Gaia Gardens.

Thank you Maria, Thomas, Pierce, Kim, Tod and the many other volunteers who have lent us a hand.