Cast Iron Gutters for Older Style Properties in America

In America, as with the rest of the world, gutter leader heads are installed near the top of downspouts, essentially working as a funnel. It helps prevent overflow by introducing airflow into the downspout. This helps prevent vacuum lock near the top of the downspouts and prevents overflow.

Additionally, some leader heads are designed to receive more than one downspout, or in some cases, more than one gutter converges onto a single leader head.   Lastly, leader heads have historically provided an opportunity to incorporate a decorative element within their design. These elements, as are the other roof drainage system components, gutters, scuppers, or downspouts, have to be sized to perform well, according to the amount of precipitation that they are intended to help alleviate.

Leader heads can also receive water from scuppers, as used predominantly through flat roofs’ parapets. In those cases, the leader head provides the transition from scupper to a downspout.

Leader heads can be incorporated into rainwater harvesting systems, by helping direct the water into collection cisterns. This way, the harvested natural resource, rainwater, can be redistributed as best fits the needs.  Whether the leader head fits directly into the collecting tank or is connected to a downpipe first, contaminants and debris such as leaves, twigs from trees, and bird and other animal droppings among others, must be kept out of the tanks. For this purpose leaf guards or leaf, diverters are very useful, since they are simple angled screens installed in such a manner as to deflect leaves and debris while allowing water to pass through.

(In Australia a leader head is known as a Rainhead. Essentially the same thing but with different terminology).