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No Water No Life ®

Ancient Roman Aqueducts and Waste Removal Infrastructure Paradigm Investigation: May 13-22, 2018

A Mini-Expedition Led and Photographed by NWNL Executive Director

Alison M. Jones

An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose. In a more restricted use, aqueduct (occasionally water bridge) applies to any bridge or viaduct that transports water - instead of a path, road or railway - across a gap. Large navigable aqueducts are used as transport links for boats or ships. Aqueducts must span a crossing at the same level as the watercourses on each end. The word is derived from the Latin aqua ("water") and ducere ("to lead")

http://www.crystalinks.com/romeaqueducts.html

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NWNL “Ancient Roman Aqueducts” Expedition

What: Investigation of Ancient Rome’s high standard for its water-moving systems Why: Since Roman aqueducts still supplement water availability and quality, this provides an analog relative to impending urban water scarcity in NWNL case study watersheds and spotlights --as well as elsewhere. For instance, Beijing has run out of groundwater and is planning two massive aqueducts, each to carry water for 2,700 miles from southern to northern China. Where: NWNL will visit at least 4 ancient aqueducts just outside the city and several city fountains built hundreds of years ago to ensure healthy circulation of fresh water through Rome’s ancient leaded pipes Contact: To supply information on this subject, please contact NWNL Project Costs: The expenses of lodging and air miles for this mini NWNL Expedition are covered by in-kind donations; remaining costs by 3 individual donors. Parameters: This is a brief 1-time overview of early Roman infrastructure as it relates to current and future plans for water delivery/removal elsewhere. Why: Findings will add to NWNL study of other early water-moving systems from Africa’s Cradle of Humankind to America’s Mississippean Culture. Results: An expedition brief and imagery will be posted on the NWNL website.

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"Aqueduct of Segovia" courtesy of Bernard Gagnon/Creative Commons

AQUEDUCTS OF ROME

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AQUEDUCTS IN ROME - http://www.maquettes-historiques.net/P9.html

[LEFT] The one that can be seen in the centre of the picture is the Aqua Claudia. This public work is one of the most remarkable of Rome. Terminated under Emperor Claudius, it fed the slopes of the Palatine (top left) and had its source in the moutains 68km far from Rome. In the centre of the picture, it goes through the Cælian Hill and, in the middle, along the wide architectural complex formed by the Temple of Claudius. The Emperor Domitian extended the Aqua Claudia

{RIGHT[ up to the Palatine to supply the palace with water. The Aqua Claudia had to wind amid the mansions of the Ceaelian Hill.

This aqueduct [BELOW] in the centre of the picture is actually a double aqueduct, the Appia on the left and the Marcia on the right. The Aqua Appia diverts directly from the Aqua Claudia which we saw above, meanwhile the Aqua Marcia had its source in the

big Aqua Marcia Tepula Iulia, that fed the Baths of Diocletian. These two aqueducts went therefore through the Cælian Hill and fed the baths built on the Aventine, the Baths of Decius on the upper part of the hill and the smaller Baths of Sura towards the Circus

Maximus

The Aqua Virgo LEFT enters Rome on the north side through the slopes of the Pincian Hill and goes until the Sæpta Julia on the Campus Martius. On the picture, you see the Arch of Claudius on the spot where the aqueduct goes over the Via Lata, completely on the left of the picture. Today this is the famous Via del Co.

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The Aqua Marcia Antoninianais [LEFT supplying the great cistern of

the Baths of Caracalla.

Third Roman aqueduct, [RIGHT]the Aqua Marcia Tepula Iuliawas built between 144 and 140 BC. It enters Rome through the Prænestina gate (today the Porta Maggiore – the Main Gate), goes alongside the Aurelian Wall to the Tiburtina Gate then comes into the city and divides in two separate branches.

Here (LEFT) is the division of the two branches of the Aqua Marcia in the northeast Esquiline. The shortest is the

Aqua Marcia Iovia. The tow branches feed the tanks of the Baths of Diocletian, becoming underground

Here

The New Anio Aqueduct [RIGHT] (Aqua Anio Novus) merges with the Aqua Claudia, with which it shares the same way on their 13 last kilometres before Rome. It diverges from it after the Prænestina Gate and feeds a great tank (Aqua conclusa). This was the longest and the one that brought the most water to Rome.

BATHS OF ROME

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B/W Photo Creative Commons photos gathered by www.sewerhistory.org

The Roman Empire is in many ways the highest point of sewage management (and other public works) in the ancient world. Famous for public baths and latrines with quite complex engineering, Rome also excelled in the use of covered drains for storm water and sewage, with some houses connected directly to the drainage system. Water conveyance in large-scale aqueducts was another impressive accomplishment. With the spread of the Roman Empire into Europe and the Mideast, these technologies were introduced across large geographic areas, but the knowledge was largely lost in the Middle Ages.

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The Baths of Caracalla were Roman public baths, or thermae, built in Rome between 212 and 216 AD, during the reign of the Emperor Caracalla. The extensive ruins of the baths have become a popular tourist attraction. Fed by Marcian Aqueduct

The bath complex covered approximately 13 hectares (33 ac). The bath building was 228 meters (750 ft) long, 116 meters (380 ft) wide and 38.5 meters (125 ft) estimated height, and could hold an estimated 1,600 bathers.

The Caracalla bath complex of buildings was more a leisure centre than just a series of baths. The "baths" were the second to have a public library within the complex. Like other public libraries in Rome, there were two separate and equal sized rooms or buildings; one for Greek language texts and one for Latin language texts.Also at the and outside of them were shopping centers sort of like a mall in current times.

The baths consisted of a central 55.7 by 24 meter (183x79 ft) frigidarium (cold room) under three 32.9 meter (108 ft) high groin vaults, a double pool tepidarium (medium), and a 35 meter (115 ft) diameter caldarium (hot room), as well as two palaestras (gyms where wrestling and boxing was practiced). The north end of the bath building contained a natatio or swimming pool. The natatio was roofless with bronze mirrors mounted overhead to direct sunlight into the pool area. The

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entire bath building was on a 6 meter (20 ft) high raised platform to allow for storage and furnaces under the building.

The libraries were located in exedrae on the east and west sides of the bath complex. The entire north wall of the complex was devoted to shops. The reservoirs on the south wall of the complex were fed with water from the Marcian Aqueduct.

The building was heated by a hypocaust, a system of burning coal and wood underneath the ground to heat water provided by a dedicated aqueduct. It was in use up to the 19th century. (Wikipedia)

Source: (Top) Rekonstruierter Grundriss der Caracalla-Thermen. Quelle: Wilhelm Lübke, Max Semrau: Grundriß der Kunstgeschichte. Paul Neff Verlag, Esslingen, 14. Auflage 1908. Wikimedia Commons. (Bottom) David Edgars/Wikimedia Commons.

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The Rise and Fall of the Roman Aqueduct By Christopher McFadden Dec. 6, 2016

https://interestingengineering.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-roman-aqueducts What did the Romans ever do for us? The very fact they still intrigue us should put this question to bed. And in terms of engineering, they did quite a lot. Let's take one prime example of revolutionary engineering: Roman aqueducts. If you travel around Europe and the Middle East, you'll quickly run into examples of aqueducts. Some are even still completely serviceable. The Trevi Fountain in Rome still gets fed by an ancient aqueduct (Aqua Vergine) (even though it's now pressurized).

Did you know? Mention aqueducts and most people will instinctively think of a large stone bridge, perhaps arched, that carries or once carried water along its course. Aqueducts are a complex network of ground works, pipes and other structures designed to transfer water from a source to a destination. It's not just the iconic stone structures seen today. For the most part, aqueducts transport water long distances simply under the influence of gravity - absolutely simple but ingenious. These are in fact merely conduits to the aqueduct system. The simplest aqueducts were ditches cut into the ground. Aqueducts sometimes run for some, or all of, their path through tunnels constructed underground. Modern aqueducts may also include pipelines.

Image Source : Graphics reporting by Tom Kington. Graphic by Doug Stevens/LA Times ]

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The First Aqueducts Aqueducts are not unique to Ancient Rome. Many other civilizations developed similar engineering. Crete has early examples of simple water channeling systems from the Minoan period. Egypt and China both had their "quanats" to carry water underground. Even ancient Aztec culture had versions of this technology. The first long-distance canal systems were constructed by the Assyrians in the 9th century BC. In the 7th century BC Assyrian king Sennacherib constructed a wide canal with a 920 ft (280 m) long white stone ‘bridge’. This was used to bring water to Nineveh via the Jerwan aqueduct, which is acknowledged as the first large above-ground aqueduct. The Greeks, not to be outdone, built aqueducts to supply Athens, amongst other locations, via long distance aqueduct systems in the 6th century BC.

When in Rome Before aqueducts, Romans relied on local water sources such as springs and streams. These were supplemented by groundwater from privately or publicly owned wells. Seasonal rainwater was also exploited by draining from rooftops into storage jars and cisterns, much like rainwater harvesting today1. The reliance of ancient communities on these water resources restricted their potential growth. By the early Imperial era, Rome's aqueducts supported a population of over a million. They also supplied extravagant water supply for public amenities such as baths, fountains and latrines.

Construction Before building an aqueduct, Roman engineers assessed the quality of a potential water source by examining: the water's clarity, source rate of flow, and taste of the water. They also took note of the physical condition of the locals who drank it. Once a site was approved, surveyors calculated the right path and gradient for the conduit, as well as its channel size and length. Springs served as the most common sources for the aqueduct. However, some aqueducts got water from dammed reservoirs like the two still used in the provincial city of Emerita Augusta. Roman engineers used a number of different tools to plan the aqueduct's construction. Horizons were checked using "chorobates," a flat-bedded wooden frame fitted with a water level. The aqueducts themselves ran 0.5 to 1 m beneath the ground's surface. While early aqueducts were made from ashlar, late Republic-era Rome used brick-faced concrete for a better seal. Contemporary Roman engineers such as Vitruvius recommended a low gradient of not less than 1 in 4800 for the channel. This was presumably to prevent damage to the structure.

Failing to plan is planning to fail Once built, aqueducts had to be maintained and protected. The city of Rome at one time employed about 700 maintenance personnel for this purpose. The excellent planning of the ancient Romans ensured that maintenance requirements were incorporated into the design.

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For instance, underground sections of the aqueducts were made accessible by means of manholes and shafts. When major repairs were needed, engineers could temporarily divert the water away from ba damaged section.

Notable Roman Aqueducts The combined conduit length of the aqueducts in the city of Rome is estimated between 490 to a little over 500 miles. 29 miles (47 km) of which was carried above ground level, on masonry supports. It is estimated that Rome’s aqueducts supplied around 1 million cubic meters (300 million gallons) a day. That's a capacity of 126 percent of the current water supply of the city of Bangalore, which has a population of 6 million – amazing! The longest Roman aqueduct system is believed to have been in Constantinople. What's known of the aqueduct runs two and a half times longer than the ones found in Carthage and Cologne. Many scholars believe it to be the most outstanding achievement in pre-industrial societies. Perhaps the second longest, built in the 2nd Century, the Zaghouan Aqueduct is 57.5 miles (92.5 km) in length. ]

Decline After the fall of the Roman Empire2, aqueducts were either deliberately vandalised or fell into disuse through lack of organised maintenance. This was devastating for larger cities. Rome's population declined from over 1 million in the Imperial era to 100-200,000 after the siege of 537 AD. Observations made by the Spaniard Pedro Tafur, who visited Rome in 1436, reveal misunderstandings of the very nature of Roman aqueducts: "Through the middle of the city runs a river, which the Romans brought there with great labour and set in their midst, and this is the Tiber. They made a new bed for the river, so it is said, of lead, and channels at one and the other end of the city for its entrances and exits, both for watering horses and for other services convenient to the people, and anyone entering it at any other spot would be drowned." It is a real testament to Roman engineers that some of their aqueducts are still in use some 2000 years later. They have become iconic structures in their own right and modern aqueducts, for the most part, would not be unrecognizable to ancient Romans. That’s quite a feat. Sources:

1What is Rainwater Harvesting? by Rinkesh. https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/Advantages_Disadvantages_Rainwater_Harvesting.php

2 Fall of the Roman Empire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_the_Western_Roman_Empire

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Ka roly_Marko: Italian Landscape with Viaduct and Rainbow

Rome, Lazio, Italy – Creative Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roma-parco_degli_acquedotti03.jpg

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Fountains of Rome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fountains_in_Rome

he fountains of Rome all operated purely by gravity- the source of water had to be higher than the fountain itself, and the difference in elevation and distance between the source and the fountain determined how high the fountain could shoot water. The fountain in St. Peter's Square was fed by the Paola aqueduct, restored in 1612, whose source was 266 feet (81 m) above sea level, which meant it could shoot water twenty feet up from the fountain. The Triton fountain benefited from its location in a valley, and the fact that it was fed by the Aqua Felice aqueduct, restored in 1587, which arrived in Rome at an elevation of 194 feet (59 m) above sea level (fasi), a difference of 130 feet (40 m) in elevation between the source and the fountain, which meant that the water from this fountain jetted sixteen feet straight up into the air from the conch shell of the Triton.[6]

The fountains of Piazza Navona, on the other hand, took their water from the Acqua Vergine, which had only a 23-foot (7.0 m) drop from the source to the fountains, which meant the water could only fall or trickle downwards, not jet very high upwards. For the Trevi Fountain, the architect Nicola Salvi compensated for this problem by sinking the fountain down into the ground, and by carefully designing the cascade so that the water churned and tumbled, to add movement and drama.[7]

Today all of the fountains have been rebuilt, and the Roman water system uses both gravity and mechanical pumps. Water is recycled and water from different aqueducts is sometimes mixed before it reaches the fountains and performs for the spectators.[

These fountains were linked to the restored aqueducts, decorated the piazzi, or squares, of Rome, and provided drinking water to the population around the squares.

Fountain in Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere (1499-1659)

Fontana delle Api (Fountains of the Bees) (1644)

Fontana di Piazza d'Aracoeli, (1589)

Fontana dell'Acqua Acetosa

Fontana della Barcaccia, (1627)

Fountain in Campo de' Fiori, known as La Terrina (the soup bowl)

Fontana di Piazza Colonna (1577 - 19th century print)

Fontana dei Dioscuri(1818)

Fontana di Piazza Farnese, in front of the Palazzo Farnese (16th century)

La Fontana del Moro in Piazza Navona (1575)

Fountain of the Piazza dei Monti, by Giacomo Della Porta, (1589) by Giovanni Batista Falda, about 1670

Fountain of Neptune, Rome, Piazza Navona(1574/1878Fontana del Nettuno (Fountain of Neptune), Piazza del Popolo(Fountain 1574, Neptune added 1878)

Fontana dell Obelisco, Piazza del Popolo(assumed about 1828)

Fontana delle Naiadi on Piazza della Repubblica(1888)

Fontana del Pantheon(1575)

Fontana della Pigna (1st century AD)

Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, Piazza Navona(1651)

Fountains of St. Peter's Square by Carlo Maderno (1614) and Bernini (1677)

Fontana delle Tartarughe, (The Turtle Fountain) Piazza Mattei(1588)

Fontana del Tritone, Piazza Barberini (1642–43)