Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) is a 4,000 year old practice perfected by the Romans who built closed cisterns inside building courtyards to catch rain runoff from the roof. Yet today, the practice remains largely the same- a cistern or tank is connected to a pipe which is fed by the rain gutters extending from the roof. While this practice is effective when both the upfront capital for construction and the right type of roof is there (thatched roofs won't work), most families in the developing world cannot afford the expenses involved.

The RainSaucers system is a patent-pending, low cost, easy to deploy RWH system that catches rain straight from the sky. The RainSaucers system has a small enough footprint to facilitate deployment anywhere. Since the catchment mechanism is removable, it can be easily cleaned or stored when not in use. A single 200 liter RainSaucers system, emptied periodically during the rainy season, can provide a family with up to 7 months of drinking water. The system can also be expanded to harvest enough rain for whole year.