A house on a cistern system stores and moves its water with up to three objects: a cistern that buffers the municipal supply, sometimes a tinaco on the roof, and a pump with a pressure tank to push water back up. Ours, in Antigua, has the first and is swapping the third for a constant-pressure pump. This page prices all three as they were on sale on 2 October 2026, per litre where that is the useful number, and says what the listings do and do not tell you.
The three-line version. (1) Rotoplas cisterns ran Q1.93-2.12 per litre; tinacos ran Q1.04-2.19 per litre. (2) A conventional pump-and-tank combo started at Q1,899, with a Q750 fixed install at Cemaco. (3) A big pressure tank is what our own house did not buy: a constant-pressure pump replaced it, as our pressure pump page explains.
Every price is a dated catalog reading from cemaco.com and aquasistemas.com.gt, not a quote. Conversions: exchange rates.
Cisterns and tinacos, per litre
| Product (Cemaco, 2 Oct 2026) | Capacity | Price | Per litre (ours) | Listing’s people field |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aquaplas tinaco | 450 L | Q986 | Q2.19 | — |
| Talishte tinaco, with accessories | 600 L | Q1,150 | Q1.92 | — |
| Talishte tinaco, with accessories | 900 L | Q1,395 | Q1.55 | — |
| Aquaplas Total vertical cistern, equipped | 1,000 L | Q5,999 | Q6.00 | — |
| Aquaplas tinaco | 1,100 L | Q1,199 | Q1.09 | — |
| Talishte tinaco (blue) | 1,250 L | Q1,450 (list Q1,550) | Q1.16 | — |
| Talishte tinaco, with accessories | 1,700 L | Q2,050 | Q1.21 | 10 people |
| Talishte tinaco | 2,500 L | Q2,595 | Q1.04 | — |
| Rotoplas cistern, no equipment | 2,800 L | Q5,398 | Q1.93 | 15 people |
| Rotoplas cistern, no equipment | 5,000 L | Q10,590 | Q2.12 | 30 people |
| Rotoplas cistern, no equipment | 6,000 L | Q11,994 | Q2.00 | — |
| Rotoplas cistern, no equipment | 10,000 L | Q19,799 | Q1.98 | — |
Three things the table shows that a single price does not:
- The cistern premium is roughly double per litre. A 2,500-litre tinaco at Q1.04/L against a 2,800-litre Rotoplas cistern at Q1.93/L. What the extra money buys is not stated in the spec tables we captured; in particular, none of them says which product is rated to be buried. Ask before you dig.
- Big cisterns do not get cheaper per litre. Rotoplas ran Q1.93 to Q2.12 per litre from 2,800 to 10,000 litres. Two small cisterns cost about the same per litre as one big one, which matters if access to your site is tight.
- Equipped is a different product. The 1,000-litre Aquaplas Total at Q5,999 integrates its components, by its listing’s own description; at Q6.00 per litre it is priced as a system, not as a tank. The Rotoplas cisterns were sold sin equipo, with no pump.
Logistics on the listings: the 2,800-litre Rotoplas is 1.95 m tall and 1.55 m in diameter, sold online only, with 15 days’ delivery inside the capital on 2 October 2026. A tinaco accessory kit was Q275.
Sizing. We do not publish a litres-per-person rule, because no source we read gives one we could check. The listings carry their own people-per-capacity field (15 people for 2,800 litres, 30 for 5,000, 10 for a 1,700-litre tinaco). Treat that as the maker’s number, then look at how long cuts last in your sector on the live water outage tracker; in Antigua, the background is on our water and utilities page.
Pressure tanks and pump combos
| Tank (2 Oct 2026) | Size | Price | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pretul horizontal | 24 L | Q387.99 | Cemaco |
| Franklin horizontal | 24 L | Q389.99 | Cemaco |
| APEC SPTB-12 | 3 gal | Q417 | Aquasistemas |
| Truper horizontal (60 PSI max, 1-inch NPT, EPDM membrane) | 24 L | Q460.99 | Cemaco |
| APEC SPTB-24 | 6 gal | Q597 | Aquasistemas |
| Truper horizontal | 50 L | Q1,019 | Cemaco |
| Franklin horizontal | 80 L | Q1,199 | Cemaco |
| Little Giant | 21 gal | Q1,624 | Aquasistemas |
| American APT-20 | 20 gal | Q1,988 | Aquasistemas |
| Sta-Rite | 19 gal | Q2,459 | Cemaco |
| Little Giant | 34 gal | Q3,752 | Aquasistemas |
| AFT vertical | 132 L | Q3,999 | Cemaco |
| Little Giant | 80 gal | Q6,082 | Aquasistemas |
| Little Giant | 119 gal | Q8,633 | Aquasistemas |
| APEC SPTN-450 | 119 gal | Q9,703 | Aquasistemas |
Several Aquax tanks at Aquasistemas showed Q0.00, a placeholder rather than a price; we left them out rather than guess.
Combos (pump plus tank, Cemaco): Truper 1/2 HP with 50 L Q1,899, Aquapro 1 HP with 80 L Q2,499, Truper 1 HP with 100 L Q3,429. Cemaco’s fixed Q750 install for a combo includes labour, materials, tests and a six-month warranty, on condition that power and water are within one metre of the spot.
The part that wears out is the membrane, and it is sold separately: Q129.99 for a 24-litre tank, Q279.99 for 50 litres, Q479.99 for an 80-litre or 21-gallon tank. Price that into a used tank or an old house’s system before deciding it needs replacing whole.
The tank we did not buy
In August 2026 our own plan had an 85-gallon tank at Q11,085, and the whole line was out of stock on 5 August 2026. On 8 August 2026 we switched to a constant-pressure (VFD) pump, which holds one pressure without a big tank. A VFD unit with a built-in expansion vessel was listed at Q2,324 on 8 August 2026. The full comparison, noise, RO feed pressure and the used-import story, is on our water pressure pump page. If you keep a conventional pump, the table above is your market.
Import or buy here?
For tanks, the duty is not the obstacle: plastic reservoirs and cisterns over 300 litres (heading 3925.10) carried 0% duty on SIECA’s Central American tariff on 2 October 2026, with 12% IVA on value plus freight. The obstacle is volume. A 2,800-litre cistern is 1.95 m tall, and a courier can bill a bulky box on its dimensional weight rather than its scale weight. Our import channels page shows how fast that arithmetic turns against an import on a bulky item.
Part of our setting up a house in Guatemala cluster: water pressure pump · sediment filters · water heater · water softener.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a cistern cost in Guatemala?
On Cemaco’s catalog on 2 October 2026, Rotoplas cisterns sold without equipment cost Q5,398 for 2,800 litres, Q10,590 for 5,000 litres, Q11,994 for 6,000 litres and Q19,799 for 10,000 litres, which works out to about Q1.93 to Q2.12 per litre. An equipped 1,000-litre Aquaplas Total vertical cistern was Q5,999.
Is a tinaco cheaper than a cistern?
Per litre, yes, on the listings we read. Talishte and Aquaplas tinacos at Cemaco ran from about Q1.04 per litre (2,500 L for Q2,595) to Q2.19 per litre (450 L for Q986), against Q1.93-2.12 per litre for the Rotoplas cisterns. They are sold as different products: the listings we captured do not state which of them is rated to be buried, so ask the seller before you put a tinaco in the ground.
What size cistern do I need?
We will not invent a rule. What the listings publish is their own people-per-capacity field: 15 people for the 2,800-litre Rotoplas cistern, 30 for the 5,000-litre one, 10 for a 1,700-litre Talishte tinaco. Read those as the maker’s sizing, and size up if your sector’s supply cuts last for days; the water outage tracker shows how long cuts run where you live.
How much does a pressure tank cost in Guatemala?
On 2 October 2026: 24-litre hydropneumatic tanks from Q387.99 to Q460.99 at Cemaco, 50 litres Q1,019, 80 litres Q1,199, a 19-gallon Sta-Rite Q2,459 and a 132-litre AFT Q3,999. Aquasistemas listed Little Giant tanks from Q776 (3 gallons) to Q8,633 (119 gallons) and APEC tanks from Q417 to Q9,703. Pump-and-tank combos ran Q1,899 to Q3,429, and Cemaco’s fixed install price for a combo was Q750.
Do I need a pressure tank at all?
Only with a conventional pump. A constant-pressure pump with a variable-frequency drive holds one pressure without a big tank; our own house dropped a planned 85-gallon tank for that reason in August 2026. If you keep a conventional pump, the tank is what stops it restarting on every tap you open.
