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["Robert Walton" <waltonrp AT gmail.com>]

Someone on another list started a thread talking about rainwater
harvesting. (Sorry for those on both lists.) I thought I'd copy my
response here since we had touched on that:

I grew up near the Gamble Plantation in Ellenton, Fl. I remember the
cistern. Water was like someone mentioned in the Bahamas, like gold. I
remember that the cistern had plants, minnows and frogs growing in it.
I think that is how they deal with mosquitoes and stuff like that. It
was still functioning in the late 1970s. It is like a pool with a roof
with the bottom and sides made of a sort of cement with sand and
coquina shells.

I googled it and found two pictures:

http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/fl/gambleplantation.html
(2nd picture down)

http://goflorida.about.com/od/floridastateparks/ss/sp_gamble_2.htm
(you can just see it to the right of the house in the picture)

I've always thought that this was a good idea for how to do a cistern.
The plants, fish and frogs keep the water alive and clean. If the
cistern was a little higher level than your garden a siphon hose would
get the water out and to the garden.