Tackling the Cistern

Over the winter, the cistern rose out of the ground. One pipe broke there, but no other plumbing seems damaged. (Incidentally, the guy who delivers the water said this happens "all the time," and to avoid it the most important thing is to keep the cistern full of water.)

It's been much too wet in the hole to do anything about it all summer. But recently, the weather has been dry, and it finally seemed a good time to get the cistern back underground.

Scott went out one day and used the shovel to move as much dirt off the cistern as he could. The next day he drove the excavator he had rented out to the property and managed to use it to pull the cistern out of the hole. He said it pushed the excavator to the limit. 

After getting the cistern out, he moved it out of the way and on to its side. He used the excavator to dig the hole deeper.

The cistern has gotten very dirty on the inside, unfortunately, and it must be cleaned before it goes back into the ground. A bit harder to do with no running water!