How can you use rainwater? To grow veggies, raise a clutter of Ocelots, or fill your kiddie pool to name a few. While you may have turned the kiddie pool into a giant margarita to make it through the rest of 2020, there are plenty of ways to collect and use rainwater, granted you don’t live in a communist state that forbids it – pshhh!
There are many ways to catch rainwater and many products that make it easier but if you have a 3D printer there’s one you can make yourself that’s extremely flexible. Maker group Jtronics has created a rain capture device that collects a portion of the water from your rain gutters. Best of all, once your rain barrel/bucket is full it then allows water to continue to flow through the downspout.
Jtronics provides nine different downspout sizes from 50mm to 100mm. They also provide a hose connector model and a union nut to complete the hose hookup. Jtronics uses an Ultimaker UMO2 (he just upgraded from a UMO) and recommends a 0.20mm layer with 20% infill and supports only from the plate. Though they state ABS or PLA filament is suitable, I’d recommend a food-safe filament like PLA (without additives) or PET – Makerbot PLA Filament or Taulman Nylon 680 are good examples.
Ready to collect that rainwater? You can download the model from Thingiverse or Cults3D. [Bonus! Jtronics has some other great models, including this low-profile, modular mounting system. Check it out.]
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