diff --git a/ciwatch/events.py b/ciwatch/events.py
index a748cd1..26c270f 100644
--- a/ciwatch/events.py
+++ b/ciwatch/events.py
@@ -14,14 +14,13 @@
 
 from datetime import datetime
 import json
-import paramiko
 import re
-import time
 
 from ciwatch.config import Config
 from ciwatch import db
 from ciwatch.log import logger
 from ciwatch import models
+from zuul.lib.gerrit import Gerrit
 
 
 def _process_project_name(project_name):
@@ -70,49 +69,7 @@ def _store_event(event, datadir):
     return event
 
 
-class GerritEventStream(object):
-    def __init__(self, cfg):
-
-        logger.debug('Connecting to %(host)s:%(port)d as '
-                     '%(user)s using %(key)s',
-                     {'user': cfg.AccountInfo.gerrit_username,
-                      'key': cfg.AccountInfo.gerrit_ssh_key,
-                      'host': cfg.AccountInfo.gerrit_host,
-                      'port': int(cfg.AccountInfo.gerrit_port)})
-
-        self.ssh = paramiko.SSHClient()
-        self.ssh.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy())
-
-        connected = False
-        while not connected:
-            try:
-                self.ssh.connect(cfg.AccountInfo.gerrit_host,
-                                 int(cfg.AccountInfo.gerrit_port),
-                                 cfg.AccountInfo.gerrit_username,
-                                 key_filename=cfg.AccountInfo.gerrit_ssh_key)
-                connected = True
-            except paramiko.SSHException as e:
-                logger.error('%s', e)
-                logger.warn('Gerrit may be down, will pause and retry...')
-                time.sleep(10)
-
-        self.stdin, self.stdout, self.stderr =\
-            self.ssh.exec_command("gerrit stream-events")
-
-    def __iter__(self):
-        return self
-
-    def next(self):
-        return self.stdout.readline()
-
-
-def parse_json_event(event, projects):
-    try:
-        event = json.loads(event)
-    except Exception as ex:
-        logger.error('Failed json.loads on event: %s', event)
-        logger.exception(ex)
-        return None
+def parse_event(event, projects):
     if _is_valid(event, projects):
         _process_event(event)
         logger.info('Parsed valid event: %s', event)
@@ -162,17 +119,18 @@ def add_event_to_db(event, commit_=True):
 def main():
     config = Config()
     db.create_projects()  # This will make sure the database has projects in it
+    gerrit = Gerrit(
+        hostname=config.cfg.AccountInfo.gerrit_host,
+        username=config.cfg.AccountInfo.gerrit_username,
+        port=int(config.cfg.AccountInfo.gerrit_port),
+        keyfile=config.cfg.AccountInfo.gerrit_ssh_key
+    )
+    gerrit.startWatching()
     while True:
-        try:
-            events = GerritEventStream(config.cfg)
-        except paramiko.SSHException as ex:
-            logger.exception('Error connecting to Gerrit: %s', ex)
-            time.sleep(60)
-        for event in events:
-            event = parse_json_event(event, config.get_projects())
-            if event is not None:
-                _store_event(event, config.DATA_DIR)
-
+        event = gerrit.getEvent()[1]
+        parsed_event = parse_event(event, config.get_projects())
+        if parsed_event is not None:
+            _store_event(parsed_event, config.DATA_DIR)
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     main()
diff --git a/ciwatch/populate.py b/ciwatch/populate.py
index 3bf5a90..6e8cd54 100644
--- a/ciwatch/populate.py
+++ b/ciwatch/populate.py
@@ -12,21 +12,29 @@
 #    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
 #    under the License.
 
+import json
 import os
 
 from ciwatch.config import Config
 from ciwatch import db
 from ciwatch.events import add_event_to_db
-from ciwatch.events import parse_json_event
+from ciwatch.events import parse_event
+from ciwatch.log import logger
 
 
 def get_data(datafile, projects):
     data = []
     with open(datafile) as file_:
         for line in file_:
-            event = parse_json_event(line, projects)
-            if event is not None:
-                data.append(event)
+            try:
+                event = json.loads(line)
+            except Exception as ex:
+                logger.error('Failed json.loads on event: %s', event)
+                logger.exception(ex)
+                continue
+            parsed_event = parse_event(event, projects)
+            if parsed_event is not None:
+                data.append(parsed_event)
     return data
 
 
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index a37220b..839b96b 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -7,3 +7,4 @@ flask>=0.10
 sqlalchemy>=1.0
 iniparse>=0.4
 paramiko>=1.15
+zuul==2.1.0