Question for creative DIY-ers

[birdographer]

Last edited Sat Oct 5, 2024, 08:15 PM - Edit history (1)

So, we lose our water when we lose our power, which happened during Helene. I finally got a 50-gallon cistern (was due to be delivered today), which will collect water via the downspout on the gutter. However, in this house those are all poorly placed for that. The cistern barrel has a screened slit in the top--the idea is that the downspout (is that the word I want? The pipe the water drains out of from the gutter) water will run into the barrel and can be used for flushing toilets.

We have a shed that has a metal roof--ribbed, not flat. The roof is not straight along the bottom edge, it is warped. But rain water runs down it. Can anyone think of something to fashion to direct the water to one place to flow off the roof (since it's ribbed, can't just attach something to direct the flow)? I assume we can take the lid off the barrel so we have a larger opening for water to fall into, but I don't know how to direct it to above the barrel. If this makes sense and you have any ideas, let me know!

Edited to add: Why does this have to come from a roof? The cistern barrel is maybe 4' high, can I not construct something 5' high to run rainwater into it? I am thinking we could replace the lid with window screening to keep a lot out. Again, just used for flushing, so does not need to be clean. In our old house, we had two roofs come together, which created the most perfect run of water, I used to "shower" under there during power outages. Can I not create something like that?