I got the used drum locally for 15 and the wood came from my scrap bin.
Cistern no gutters.
A system of gutters and downspouts directs the rainwater collected by the roof to the storage cistern.
Sweep all debris from the roof and gutters leading to the chosen downspout by using a broom.
Put them where they need to be.
Traditionally this involves harvesting the rain from a roof.
Cistern covers are 2 x2 and are cast in the floor.
If you join too many downspouts before they enter the cistern you could have a constriction that would be problematic.
The cistern typically located underground may be constructed of various materials including cinderblock reinforced concrete or precast concrete fiberglass or steel.
The rain will collect in gutters that channel the water into downspouts and then into some sort of storage vessel.
Remember that the x section of a 4 pipe is twice that of a 3 pipe.
This is a cistern i made from some pressure treated 2x6 material and a 55 gallon plastic juice drum.
The water was collected from the roof gutters.
I chose to use 2x6 material because i had it handy but if you choose to u.
The water might have been used by the household if there was no city water at the time.
It is more important that you have unrestricted flow into the cistern.