The Norwesco 5025 Gallon Underground Water Storage Cistern Tank is a buried polyethylene cistern built for serious-volume water storage, rural fire-water reserves, and high-capacity below-grade water holding. At 211 inches long, 102 inches wide, and 73 inches tall, it holds 5,025 gallons under cover of soil, keeping your reserve out of sight and off your usable footprint. It is molded from polyethylene in white and carries a 1.9 specific gravity rating, so the shell is structurally built to carry contents heavier than plain water.
Will it work for your site?
Filled with water, this cistern carries 41,908 pounds of contents. Its 1.9 SG rating means the shell is rated to roughly 1.9 times the density of water — up to 79,626 pounds of rated contents weight — so the structure holds margin well beyond a water-only load. Plan your excavation around the 102.0 x 211.0 inch footprint, and account for bedding, backfill, and groundwater handling before the tank ships. An underground water tank is engineered to be supported by the surrounding soil, so the hole is part of the design, not an afterthought. Use the Tank Sizing Calculator and Tank Sizing Guide to confirm 5,025 gallons matches your draw-down and recharge before you commit to an excavation this size.
The mistake to avoid
The most common error on a buried cistern this large is skipping burial discipline. Uniform bedding, properly compacted backfill, and groundwater control are what keep the tank round and serviceable for decades; cut corners there and you compromise the very support the design relies on. Confirm the inlet, outlet, and fitting locations against the technical drawing on this page before you finalize plumbing — for a buried tank, getting the connections set right the first time saves a return excavation. If you are pairing the cistern with above-ground equipment on a pad, the concrete pad sizing framework covers the load math, and for rural fire-protection reserves, the fire-water reservoir design guide walks through NFPA 22 sizing.
Building a reuse or storage train
A 5,025-gallon underground cistern is often the storage anchor in a larger water-handling system — grey-water, rainwater, or HVAC condensate aggregation feeding a quality-banded reserve. Our industrial water reuse tank topology guide covers how to sequence treatment stages and band stored water quality so a buried cistern this size earns its place in the train.
Freight
This 5,025-gallon underground tank ships LTL, quoted live to your ZIP, from the nearest Norwesco plant — Fairfield, TX; Hanford, CA; or St. Bonifacius, MN. A buried tank of this size is a major freight item, so get an accurate number early: run your ZIP through the Freight Cost Estimator or call us at 866-418-1777 to confirm the closest shipping point and lock in delivery.
