As part of our homesteading adventure we decided to harvest the rain from our roof and under-deck rain system. I searched long and hard to find large decorative containers. Here in the Northwest rain is plentiful until summer arrives when we only receive one inch of rain per month! Not enough to keep anything watered well. There are many different ways to harvest and store water. One of the books we poured through was "Water Storage : Tanks, Cisterns, Aquifers, and Ponds for Domestic Supply" by Art Ludwig. We played with the idea of making a Ferrocement jumbo Thai jar but decided this was just not our cup of tea. Seattle Tilth offers classes on rain harvesting, storage options and systems.
We installed one 65 gallon barrel at each downspout. On three, I installed a gutter diverter to regulate the amount of water entering the barrel along with the overflow outlet. All the others have just an overflow outlet at the top which empties into the drainage system once the barrel fills up. With each rain the water gets circulated and refreshed. Each has a spigot and a hose attachment that is included in the price. These beauties come from Algreen and are the Cascata line plastic rain barrels. At present we have 460 gallons of stored water that can be used to water plants, animals, or humans (if treated). Next we are installing gutters on the chicken coop and will feed it into a drip water system for the hens.
You can see the texture created on the outside of the urn to mimic terracotta. All my neighbors and those who come to visit believe that they are terracotta until they touch them! Practicality meets beauty.
