Collecting Rain Water

A couple of members on the Forum were discussing how to collect rain water. I said Id show how I do it, so here it is.
I at first wanted one of those gutter witch things, but when I went and priced it up I nearly fell over. Nearly $100.
So I made my own thing.
I went and bought a large tap hose connector( see below pic) and a hose and drilled a hole in the shed roof guttering just before the down pipe. The hole was cut using a hole saw drill bit and was sized a fraction bigger than the hose connection.

Using the two pictured pieces , Adaptor on top with thread through the hole and screww the thap fitting on to the thread from the bottom of spouting. (Use a bit of thread tape to prevent leaks, but its not essential as there is minimal pressure) Presto, a garden hose fitting in the gutter.
Next use a bit of Aquarium Silicon to make a small dam in the spouting between the hose fitting and the down pipe. This is needed as the hose fitting sits about 5mm higher than the down pipe. In heavy rain the water will flow over and down the drain.

Half way down the hose I added a tap so I can shut of when not needed. Also is a good idea to shut it after extended dry periods and open it only after the roof has had a reasonable amount of rain to flush all the build up of bird poop and contaminants off.

The water is then piped into a 200l plastic drum, which is then connected to another drum via a hose. I draw water from the second drum and syphon effect keeps the two at equal level. Its like a crud filter as any sediment will settle in first drum and only clean rainwater is drawn from second drum

All up the total cost was about $20.00