PVC pipe - it's as ubiquitous as it is icky. And let's not start on the toxicity. Thankfully though, there is an alternative: the macho yet sensuous spirals of galvanised industrial downpipe.





































Which brings me to a rule of thumb for the thinking owner-builder. Divert your attention from the readily available (and usually ho-hum) range of domestic building supplies, and go browsing amongst their commercial (and usually sexier) counterparts.
That said, straying from off-the-shelf at Bunnings to other aisles less travelled often means a good deal of fiddling, adapting and modifying - or even fabricating from scratch. But then, that's been the story of this project from day one - and just the sort of problem-solving in which Phil excels (indeed, revels, despite his rumblings). In this case, there was a bit of head-scratching over brackets. He's such a perfectionist: must be Swiss DNA in there somewhere.






















Then it was time for attaching it all to the building and the usual monkey business - scrambling up and down ladders and hanging off bits of framework - that I'd much rather he retired from. But in the end it all looked amazing - as always.






















And now, after nearly five years (yes, five) of sitting bored and idle, our big fat stainless steel tanks are full to cascading - thanks to another summer of hammering downpours. And we're sitting pretty with over 75,000 litres of rainwater, and a bad case of eco-smugness.