Split Bamboo Pole Corrugated Metal Roof Rainwater Catchment Chain

It's magical how rain water catchment chains work to channel even the most violent and chaotic roof top storm water flows to a gentle perfectly directed constant flow or steady drip. It's amazing to watch these chains in action. They're so much more interesting and ornate then most any form of piping, and they have that effect of slowing the water down.

I've been catching water off of a tiny home with a corrugated sheet metal roof for several years now. After a couple of cracks and leaks in the roof emerged, it worked out to actually install a second level of metal sheeting to catch the flow and direct it more accurately. Now it all flows into a large split bamboo gutter which is slightly tilted at one side where it drops the water into a large coffee can which has the rain chain running through it down to a galvanized metal basin tub on the ground.

Storms have filled that to some degree many times and it never ceases to amaze me how simple and elegant of a process it can be to do something so powerful. Capturing rain water is a matter of life and death in a desert like this. The annual rainfalls determine how much if at all I have to go back to the city to get bulk water, it determines how many crops I can grow, which kinds, etc. This year has been extra dry, there were several storms that dumped lots of water nearby but some how they all missed me almost entirely.

It's a sad year because of that, though I'm never complacent, every time I hear a drop on the roof, it's loud. I'll get up and go out and make sure all of my rain water catchment systems are in place and working properly. I can't afford to miss any of it. I've got to get every last drop I can with as much catchment area as I have. I'll keep expanding the systems as I can afford to over time. For now, even the most basic and humble roof top rain chain is the proverbial drop in the bucket.