Rainwater harvesting
Practical Action
Manufacture of low-cost
gutters
Factory-made gutters are usually
expensive and beyond the reach of
the poor people of developing
countries, if indeed available at all
in the local marketplace. They are
seldom used for very low-cost
systems. The alternative is to make
gutters from materials that can be
found cheaply in the locality. There
are a number of techniques that
have been developed to help meet
this demand; one such technique is
described below.
V- shaped gutters from galvanised
steel sheet can be made simply by
cutting and folding flat galvanised
steel sheet (Figure 3a). Such sheet
is readily available in most market
centres (otherwise corrugated iron
sheet can be beaten flat) and can be
worked with tools that are commonly
found in a modestly equipped
workshop. One simple technique is
to clamp the cut sheet between two
lengths of straight timber and then
to fold the sheet along the edge of
the wood. A strengthening edge can
be added by folding the sheet
through 90o and then completing the
edge with a hammer on a hard flat
surface. The better the grade of
steel sheet that is used, the more
durable and durable the product.
Fitting a downpipe to V-shaped
guttering can be problematic and
the V-shaped guttering will often be
continued to the tank rather than
changing to the customary circular
pipe section downpipe. Methods for
fixing gutters are shown in Figure
3a.
Plastic pipes may be cut into half to
make gutters (Figure 3b). This
requires only a saw and some
clamps to fix the half-pipes to roofs.
It may be made quickly and cheaply
in areas where plastic pipes are
available.
Figure 2: a variety of guttering types showing possible
fixings
Figure 3a: folding galvanised steel sheet to make V-shaped
guttering
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