Fire Cisterns

Fire Cisterns &

Firefighting Water

Storage Tanks

Underground Fire Cisterns

FIRE CISTERNS are reliable year-round dedicated water sources for firefighting, often required when there is no central piped water supply in the area.

Providing a fire cistern or firefighting water storage tank in compliance with the local fire department’s design and storage volume requirements may reduce insurance premiums and create a valuable emergency water resource available to the entire community.

The NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) has published guidelines regarding the location and volume of an appropriate fire cistern, based on the property or structure it is designed to protect.  Please consult with your local Fire Chief about any such project before you start planning for an underground water storage tank.

There are many different possible layouts; some will require drafting, while others may provide a gravity flow or pumped discharge.  Work with your Fire Department to ensure the system will work as planned when needed.  Please see the provided illustrations for such systems.

Fire Departments also often use underground tanks for testing their truck mounted fire pumps.  This process is called Annual Testing and ensures the equipment will perform as expected when called upon.  The size and layout of a test tank will vary based on the flow rate of the pumps and the number of trucks to be tested, one after another.  See the Test Pit illustration for details.  Contact Darco for further information on pump test facility designs.  Darco manufactures NFPA compliant underground fire cisterns and fire sprinkler reservoirs.