Concrete Pad

On the weekend of October 17th, volunteers came out and helped place a 9 foot by 18 foot concrete pad for the two 3000 gallon cisterns that have been being formed and modified the past two weeks. Using over 140 bags of concrete, reinforcement bar, and a rented concrete mixer, the 5 1/2 inch pad was laid.

I am particularly proud of all of the help that was received in the process prior and during

the construction of the pad. So many people helped get the concrete from the local home improvement store, as well as haul the mixer around Starkville. It is great to see so many willing faces for this project.

The weekend went smoothly with all equipment available and no shortage of concrete mix. The pad construction started over a month ago with surveying and leveling of the ground. Over the next month, Dr. David Lewis and I placed cribbing around the determined area to prepare for the pad. Over the course of the month, size and depth changes were made, changing only slightly from 10 by 20 foot, and 6 inches deep to 9 by 18 foot pad and 5 1/2 inches deep.

The pad's cribbing was ready for concrete mix on Sunday the

18th of October. On Sunday every bag of concrete was used including a few additional bags purchased that day. The mixer allowed us to mix five 80 pound bags with 5 gallons of water. The concrete mix was a blend of portland cement, gravel and sand. With breaks, the job took approximately 9 hours to complete. The pictures shown are concrete being poured into the cribbing from the mixer and smoothing of the pad.

Thanks again to all of the volunteers, in particular Adrian Lewis and friends, Stephen Gardebled, Andrea Hill, and all others who were at the site.

First Purchases

Today, the biggest part of the rainwater harvesting system was purchased. Two 3,000 gallon cisterns were ordered from National Tank Outlet in Memphis, Tennessee. With the help of their staff, the proper inlets and outlets for the design will be added to each prefabricated cistern. Having this big purchase out of the way has allowed the system to be pushed forward at a great speed that will hopefully allow the completion date to be somewhere in December of this year.

Along with purchasing the cisterns, items required to create and lay the concrete slab needed for the two cisterns, have been purchased and work on the slab is to be conducted on this Saturday and Sunday, October 17th and 18th.

With the installation of the pad and the arrival of the cisterns, piping will soon follow along with the other components of the system, including, the pump, the purification system, and the pressure bladder.