ORIGINAL: kor
Great finds! I've only opened one cistern and it was filled with large rocks and bricks. I didn't think it was worth the effort.
ORIGINAL: AntiqueMeds
Interesting, never heard of a sewage system like that. I wonder if they used anything like that in old Frederick city here.
ORIGINAL: appliedlips
Glad u ended up with that nice druggist. Cisterns here in the St.Louis area are very hit or miss also. Some can be packed with bottles, and while not as early filled in as privies can be a lot of fun. Most of them are a lot of work for nothing but normally merit a test hole.
ORIGINAL: AntiqueMeds
that's a weird thing ,never seen anything similar around here.
Not sure if you'd call it a cistern or a septic tank.
The igloo shaped one I have has the brick parged with lime mortar for waterproofing.
My cylinder one just has regular mortared brick.
Do you tend to have stabile soil around there? I think that often determines the construction technique for privies (and probably the affluence of the homeowner)
There is an abundance of flat limestone around here so they made use of that sometimes (cheaper than brick but more labor intensive).