Bamboo and Barrel Running Water

One of the things that I did, while living in the tiny village of Omendjadi as a Peace Corps volunteer, was to fashion a gutter under the eaves to catch rainwater. Metal was not available and my gutter was giant bamboo that I split in half. I lashed it to a framework about five feet off of the ground (there was no way to attach it directly to the roof). Because the falling rainwater was spread out at the point of contact with my gutter, I had four gutter "troughs" laid side by side to catch the majority of the water.

Another bamboo piece carried the water through a hole cut in the metal grate at the kitchen window, to drop into a 55 gallon metal drum inside. I could also prop the bamboo trough up when the barrel was full, to "turn off" the flow of water. During the rainy season, my simple bamboo and barrel system supplied my needs in drinking, cooking, and washing water. In the dry season, it was not so easy.