What design/materials are best for a lid to an underground concrete water cistern to keep aboveground elements (leaves,weather, bugs, frogs...) out?

-- Greg Podgorny (returns@chacosan.com), December 19, 2001

Answers

What is the shape and what are the demisions of the opening?

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), December 19, 2001.

My recommendation would be a steel reinforced concrete top, with an access door.

-- joj (jump@off.c), December 19, 2001.

Check into whats available for septic tanks. They're usually circular.

-- john (natlivent@pcpros.net), December 19, 2001.

We have an underground concrete cistern for suppling water to the horse pasture trough, it is a concrete septic tank with two round concrete lids with iron handles on top of them. It will last as long as a septic tank is designed to last, half of forever :-).

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), December 20, 2001.