What is a Canale?
Canales are drain spouts that drain water from flat roofs. They are a feature of Southwestern architecture. Here in Northern New Mexico we call these drain spouts “canales.” In other areas, they may be called “scuppers.”
Do you have problems with your canales draining onto patios, sidewalks, walls, or roofs, and causing problems with flooding? Does the water damage and stain your stucco? Does ice form on your sidewalks, patios or driveways in cold weather and cause hazards? Even if you don’t have those problems with canale drainage, would you like a simple way to harvest rainwater from your roof?
Placing a rain barrel under a canale is a good start, but water may miss it during high rainfalls, and winds will cause some water to miss the rain barrel. A rain chain helps but causes enormous icicles, and water still blows off it in the wind. Cutting a hole in your canale is difficult and time consuming and can lead to issues with sealing your roof and canales.
What is a Canale Catcher®?
A Canale Catcher® is a part of a rainwater harvesting system that you can attach to your canale without modifying your canale or your roof. The Canale Catcher® is designed to accommodate the same water flow as a standard downspout: 158 gallons per minute. If the Canale Catcher® clogs with ice or debris, water will flow over the Canale Catcher® and into the same area your canale drains to now.
Canale Catchers® are easy to install and they fit into standard 2″ x 3″ downspouts. They come in both galvanized steel and copper and can be painted to match your stucco. Canale Catchers® blend in attractively with Northern New Mexico architecture.
We welcome customer comments! Please send your comments through our contact page.
Canale Catchers® are made in New Mexico, U.S.A.
A rain barrel by itself …
…a rain barrel with a Canale Catcher®
Which would you rather have?
Canale Catchers® can help with your canale drainage problems. Whether you want to save water or divert the water coming from your canale, Canale Catchers® are the perfect solution. There’s no need to cut a hole in your canale, and they fit the standard 6″ and 11″ canales sold in local hardware stores. They also come in an 8″ size for those roofs with custom canales. Canale Catchers® fasten onto the end of your canale, allowing you to channel water to a downspout, and then into a rain barrel or cistern or to an area of your garden. Even in wind, you will still send the water where you want it.
Downspouts are sold separately. Canale Catchers® are easy to install, so check out our installation videos. We also offer installer information on our installer page.
This is the problem with rain chains: they’re very pretty, but the ice here weighs 40 to 80 pounds and is pulling down on the canale.