How to Build a Concrete Water Tower! 2026

How to Build a Concrete Water Tower, running water is a great blessing that many people take for granted. But there are many families that do not have it. When we moved to South America, my father wanted us to give our family more modern amenities, and that's why we needed a water tower. This is an article about how to build a concrete water tower from scratch in a third world country.

The problem:
I live in a jungle village in the Amazon rainforest. We are very lucky to have running water that comes from the village, but it only works three times a day and doesn't work on some days. It also doesn't have enough pressure.

The solution:
The solution is a sixteen-foot-tall reinforced concrete tower that has two water tanks on top. The tower holds 800 gallons of water equivalent to 6,672 pounds! Water is pumped into the tanks from a lower tank that collects rainwater and town water. Once in the upper tanks, it is gravity fed to our house. This system gives us water no matter if the town's water is running or the electricity is off. Water towers like this are nothing new in our area. Everyone who wants continuous running water has to build one. We originally built ours out of wood. The wood held up for about thirteen years, which is good considering it's a rainforest and the termites are ferocious.

This article is more aimed at making you think, giving you the idea and the basic instructions to build something like this. I am not responsible for any injuries or problems that may arise when manufacturing or using this water tower. It's a big dangerous project, and the tower could be dangerous. I am not responsible in any way for any damage or injury you may face while building or using this project.

Step 1: Tons of materials-literally

Since this tower is being built in a third world country and our village has nothing to do with a cement truck, everything has to be mixed by hand and done manually! A LOT of manual work. Helping mix large quantities of cement is one of the most exhausting jobs I have ever done. The only power tool used on this project was a circular saw to cut the form boards and a chain saw to cut the form from a tree board. In this materials list, I will give you the amount of materials a project like this will take. Most people get pre-mixed concrete, but this is the material needed to make this tower completely from scratch.

Concrete:

• Sand (several meters)
• 25 100 lb. bags of cement
• Gravel: Approximately two tons
• Lots of water

Steel: (in 20' lengths)

• 32 Pieces 1/2″
• 2 Pieces 1/4″
• 6 Pieces 3/8″
• Thin wire to tie some joints

Other materials:

• Form boards: To form molds into which to pour concrete (use old boards because the extra drying concrete takes moisture from the boards tilting them too much and making them useless)
• Plywood to form the mold for the top of the tower (we didn't use plywood, but wood makes things a lot easier)

Regular tools:

• Hammer
• Sierra
• Tape
• Level
• A kind of scaffolding

Step 2: Planning, dimensions and concrete

The water tower, as I said, is quite large. The images say it all. The foot or base of this tower is a 6 foot by 9 foot rectangle. It digs into the soil about two feet, but may need to be deeper depending on the consistency of the soil. It has to be a rock solid foundation. The reinforcing columns are 16 feet high and 10 inches square. The key with columns is to keep them narrow and level.

The platform at the top measures approximately 8 feet by 5 feet.

Concrete Mixing: Since this project was done in a third world country, concrete mixing is the way the locals do it here. In more developed countries, concrete is bought ready-mixed, but here it is different. Of course, in more developed countries you probably wouldn't need this tower. 🙂

Engrconcrete edges

• Three loads of sand in a small wheelbarrow.
• A bag of cement
• A couple of buckets of gravel.
• Water to the desired consistency.

Step 3: Conditions

This step is an important step. It is key to have a solid foundation for this tower. The base is carved into a rectangle with a ++-like pattern, as seen in the image. The goal is for each column to rest in a deep excavation +. The ++ part is dug two feet deep, and the rest is dug one foot deep. You may need to dig deeper or larger depending on the consistency of the soil.

Step 4: Steel for the base

One of the main things that makes concrete strong is the steel reinforcement in it. This foot must be solid, therefore a large amount of steel.
The base has 1/2 inch steel rods tied together by wire to make a large steel mesh. Eight pieces of 1/2-inch steel are also formed into six-inch square columns to be placed inside the concrete columns. They are tied to the steel mesh at the base. The vertical steel columns are also joined by 3/8 inch pieces of steel. You can see what I mean in the images.

Step 5: Pour the base

Now that the steel is in place, it's time to pour it. This is where things get difficult. More than fifteen bags of cement were used using the three barrels of sand in one bag of cement formula. A lot of stone was also used in this step. You can look at the pictures to get a better idea of how it is poured.

Step 6: Forming the columns

Now you need to switch skills from bricklaying to carpentry. The boards that were used were of very poor quality. That's fine though, as they are pretty useless once used. (They were cut with a chainsaw from a softwood tree, but because other supplies took so long to arrive, the ants devoured much of them.) They are cut and squared to form a square shape 10 inches square. They're about 15 feet tall, so they're pretty big.

They built this concrete water tower under a previously made wooden tower, so they had things to nail. Once the three-sided columns are placed around the steel columns, a fourth board is nailed to enclose the mold. About halfway down a shape is made to hold the middle column. The key in this step is to keep the columns narrow and at a 90-degree angle to the base.

Step 7: Pour the columns

The next step is to pour the columns filled with concrete. This is not done by any other method, but by cube. This process was done in two steps.

The first part was pouring the columns to the height of the cross piece and pouring the cross column. After it had hardened, the upper section was bricked up and poured. About four bags of cement and twelve loads of sand went into the two columns. The previous wooden tower was used as scaffolding to place the cement. Once poured, it is good to let the columns sit for a week or more to dry well.

Step 8: Upper Deck Frame

Now it's time for the more technical part. This step involves framing the top platform of the tower. The top platform measures approximately 5 feet x 8 feet. A beam at the top of the two columns extends the length of the platform. At the top of each column, a beam extends perpendicular to the long beam that runs along the deck. You can see what I mean by the pictures. The ends of the ++ beams are inclined upward.

Wood cut to proper length from square columns. The top is left open so the concrete can be poured. For the column spacing below the deck, wood planks or plywood must be cut to the correct size. Around the edge, wood must be nailed so that concrete can be poured. Make sure everything is level and tight with the columns and base.

Step 9: Add steel to the upper deck

Now for the steel on top. The steel is bent and formed into six-inch squares and placed on all the top beams. The extra protruding steel columns are bent down and tied to a 1/2-inch top steel mesh similar to the base steel mesh.

Sadly I didn't take any photos of this step, so you'll have to think a little more about this step.

Step 10: Final pour!

Now to study the upper part. Once again, three-wheeled wheelbarrow loads of sand are used for a bag of cement formula. Water and gravel are added as desired. Once again, concrete is pulled from a bucket to the top and poured into the form. Concrete is poured approximately five or six inches deep for the top deck. The top is given a smooth and level finish.

Once poured, wait a week or so for everything to dry.

I'm almost done!

Step 11: We're almost done

Once the tower has set, all the molding boards are removed. The columns may need to be plastered with cement depending on the finish of the columns. The scaffolding used for work is removed and a long extension ladder is used to reach the top. The water tanks are lifted with a rope. (A challenging job). All the pipes are connected in this step, too.

It is good to wait about a week or two for the tower to dry completely and before filling the tanks with water.

Step 12: Finished!

Done! A 16-foot water tower with a capacity of 6,672 pounds. Now we can have 800 gallons of water to use.

A great achievement using only a power tool!

Now you know how to do it. Thanks for reading!

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