From modern day

France…

Image:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_EBq9covCU9o/RotnNrG6YII/
AAAAAAAACDk/M1QEHmownhM/s400/YIMG_2326.JPG

to Turkey…

Image: http://guidesofistanbul.com/eng/images/
bozdogan_2/766662-roman_aqueduct-Istanbul.jpg
1
 from Germany…

Image:
http://www.guenter-lehnen-koeln.de/Denkmaeler_62.jpg

to Tunis…
Image:
http://i1.trekearth.com/photos/12917/dsc_2102-1124.jpg

2
 from the Alps
mountains…

Image:
http://www.aymavilles.vda.it/site/foto/DSC_0028_302_l.jpg

to the mountains of
Algeria…

Image:
http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/foto/ilelouine4.jpg
3
 from the shores of
Spain

Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/
thumb/1/19/Almunecar3042603.JPG/800px-
Almunecar3042603.JPG

to the beaches of
Israel…

Image: http://www.greatcommission.com/
israel/CaesareaMaritimaRomanAqueduct.jpg

4
 the Romans built one-storey aqueducts,

Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/Aqueduc.jpg/800px-Aqueduc.jpg 5
 two storey aqueducts…

Image: http://www.andalucia.com/province/granada/almunecar/image/3506-14monumentos.jpg
6
 three storey aqueducts,
Image: http://images.cdn.fotopedia.com/flickr-4262726711-original.jpg 7
 and four storey aqueducts.
Image: http://costablog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/nerja_aqueduct.jpg 8
 BUT,
these magnificent structures
which we call aqueducts today, were in reality,
only a fraction of the system
by which ancient Romans
acquired water.
Fully 80 % of Roman aqueducts
lay hidden underground
or in workaday disguise.
Let’s look at the aqueduct of Segovia
in Spain to discover how the Romans got their
drinking water.
9
ANCIENT ROMAN WATER ACQUISITION

Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Vista-aerea-del-acueducto-de-
Segovia.jpg/800px-Vista-aerea-del-acueducto-de-Segovia.jpg

10
Headwater Collection: Caput Aquae
to

shafts
underground
seepage

water
collection
arcade tunnel tunnel
distribution
substruction covered
undergro
o und
seepage

sedimentation trench

Image adapted from:

Aicher, Peter J. Guide to the Aqueducts of Ancient Rome. 1st ed. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc., 1995. p. 12.

11
On a steep hillside in central Spain, a
small mountain stream…
Image: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/foto/weirtopsegovia.jpg 12
…is slowed and strained to capture a supply
of pure, fresh water which is then sent…

Image: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/foto/weirsegovia.jpg
13
…past the granite
dam…

Image: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/
aquasite/foto/P5082778.jpg

and through a regulating

Image: sluice gate.
http://www.romanaqueducts.info/
aquasite/foto/weirblockssegovia.jpg 14
 Open and Covered Trenches:
to
Canales

shafts
underground
seepage

water
collection
arcade tunnel tunnel
distribution
substruction open/covered
undergro
o und
seepage

sedimentation trench

Image adapted from:

Aicher, Peter J. Guide to the Aqueducts of Ancient Rome. 1st ed. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc., 1995. p. 12.

15
 It
then
would
have
flowed
along
an
open
stone
conduit…
Image: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/foto/weirblockssegovia.jpg

16
 Image: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/foto/coversegovia.jpg

before being covered with large, flat

stones designed to shield the fresh water
from the sun and from contaminants.
17
 Image: http://roma.andreapollett.com/S3/roma-aq2.htm

These flat stones could be removed for access to

several small settling basins designed to slow the
flow of rushing water and let sand carried from the
mountain stream sink below the water’s current.
18
 Underground Tunnel: Specus
to

shafts
underground
seepage

water
collection
arcade tunnel tunnel
distribution
substruction open/covered
undergro
o und
seepage

sedimentation trench

Image adapted from:

Aicher, Peter J. Guide to the Aqueducts of Ancient Rome. 1st ed. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc., 1995. p. 12.

19
 After passing the settling basins, the mountain
water entered a long underground tunnel called the
specus. In many locations, the Romans had no
choice but to cut these through solid rock, but if
possible, they built a specus by digging a trench in
the earth and constructing its side walls, floor and
roof, in that order. The roof could be flat, pointed,
or arched. A specus could be constructed of stone,
brick or cement; it was coated inside with
waterproof plaster, and when completed, it was then
buried, making it resistant to wind or storm damage,
enemy destruction, and even some earthquakes.
Aicher, Peter J. Guide to the Aqueducts of Ancient Rome. 1st ed. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc., 1995. p. 11.
20
 Image:
http://www.romanaqueducts.info/a
quasite/foto/tekconduitmodel.jpg
Image:
http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/foto/P5062217.jpg

The specus: an aqueduct’s

Image:http://roma.andreapollett.com/
undeground channel S3/roma-aq2.htm

21
 Shafts: Putei
to or Lumina

shafts
underground
seepage

water
collection
arcade tunnel tunnel
distribution
substruction open/covered
undergro
o und
seepage

sedimentation trench

Image adapted from:

Aicher, Peter J. Guide to the Aqueducts of Ancient Rome. 1st ed. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc., 1995. p. 12.

22
 Image: http://www.celtiberia.net/imagftp/ Image: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/
im199269499-Arquetas.jpg aquasite/foto/koelnputei.jpg

Above a buried specus, a series of evenly

spaced manholes, called putei, marked its path
across the countryside. Each puteus brought air
and light (lumen) into the buried specus and
allowed maintenance crews to descend into the
water channel for cleaning and repair.
23
 Puteus and
sedimentation
drop basin

Image: http://www.celtiberia.net/imagftp/
im199269587-Agua-arquetas.jpg

At the bottom of each

puteus, the flowing water
was aerated as it fell into
a drop basin designed to
catch and remove debris
from the main specus. Image: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/
aquasite/foto/lijntekstillingbasin.jpg
24
 Workers would remove the
mud and debris by hauling
buckets up the puteus shaft.
They would also clean the
specus walls by removing
calcium and hard-water
Image: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/
archive/01565/aquaduct_1565777c.jpg
deposits called sinter.

Image: Image:
Image: http://news.discovery.com/ http://www.TinyURL.com/287cux7
archaeology/2010/01/29/aqueduct http://www.romanaqueducts.info/a
1-825x550.jpg quasite/foto/roupbridge.jpg
25
 Image:
http://www.romanaqueducts.info/
aquasite/foto/P5082778.jpg

Image: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/foto/P5190053.jpg

Related to settling and drop basins, regulation

basins might use a sluice gate to divert the flow of
water from a specus during its cleaning or repair.
26
Sedimentation or to
Cleaning Tanks:
Piscina Limaria
shafts
underground
seepage

water
collection
arcade tunnel tunnel
distribution
substruction open/covered
undergro
o und
seepage

sedimentation trench

Image adapted from:

Aicher, Peter J. Guide to the Aqueducts of Ancient Rome. 1st ed. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc., 1995. p. 12.

27
 Image: http://www.romanaqueducts.info
/aquasite/foto/casapiedra1.jpg

As the flowing water neared its destination,

the specus rose again to ground level. At this
point, it entered a preliminary cleansing
facility called a piscina limaria; in Latin the
word for mud is limus.
28
 In this little building,
incoming water would
slow its flow and settle
into a basin designed to
gather particles of dirt
and debris in a pit at
the bottom. Water
intake could be halted
with a metal sluice gate
while workers cleaned
and then flushed the
Image: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/
aquasite/foto/casapiedrain.jpg
sediment from the pit.
29
 After the
water
was
cleaned,
it left this
piscina
limaria
and traveled
on in its
open-air
conduit.
Image: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/foto/casapiedra1.jpg

30
 Image: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/foto/casaaquas.jpg

A short distance ahead, the water flowed into

another, larger piscina limaria…
31
 Image: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/foto/casaaquain2.jpg

…where it fell into a deeper drop basin. As the water

rose back up again, a separate shunting channel…
32
 carried the water into a
side tank in which a
stone sieve filtered the
flow one last time
before it reached the
upcoming arcade.

Image: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/foto/P5082769.jpg

33
 Elevating Wall:
Substructio
to

shafts
underground
seepage

water
collection
arcade tunnel tunnel
distribution
substruction open/covered
undergro
o und
seepage

sedimentation trench

Image adapted from:

Aicher, Peter J. Guide to the Aqueducts of Ancient Rome. 1st ed. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc., 1995. p. 12.

34
 Image: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/foto/casaaqua0.jpg

Leaving the large settling basin, the water continued

its trip forward on top of a substructio, a raised
stone wall, usually no more than 7-10 feet high,
supporting the specus without the use of arches.
35
 Elevating Arches or Arcade
Arcuationes
to

shafts
underground
seepage

water
collection
arcade tunnel tunnel
distribution
substruction open/covered
undergro
o und
seepage

sedimentation trench

Image adapted from:

Aicher, Peter J. Guide to the Aqueducts of Ancient Rome. 1st ed. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc., 1995. p. 12.

36
Image: http://lh5.ggpht.com/_8uWGonu6jVk/SavtVX1YDvI/AAAAAAAAAvw/vqVBqCfF6Ks/s800/DSC00992.JPG

After travelling on the substructio for

463 feet, the water channel then rose slowly
onto the first level of the 2240 foot long
arcuatio, or arcade bridge, on which it
would cross the deep valley ahead.
37
 Image: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/foto/curvesegovia.jpg

After a several sharp angles, the conduit finally

turned out onto a double arcade and…
38
 Image: http://www.ige.csic.es/HWC2006/espanol/images/acueducto.jpg

…crossed a long straightaway as the arches below…

39
 Image: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/215/457600861_d67a0fdeb5.jpg

rose to a dizzying height of 95 feet before…

40
 Image: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/foto/finalarchessegovia.jpg

reaching the opposite side and descending once

again towards the ground, where the mountain
stream’s water would be distributed to the city.

41
 Water Distribution
to

shafts
underground
seepage

water
collection
arcade tunnel tunnel
distribution
substruction open/covered
undergro
o und
seepage

sedimentation trench

Image adapted from:

Aicher, Peter J. Guide to the Aqueducts of Ancient Rome. 1st ed. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc., 1995. p. 12.

42
 Sedimentation Tanks and Cisterns
Piscinae et Cisternae

closed system (pressurized) open system (gravitational)

public fountains baths
homes, industry

ground main
level pressurized subterranean pipes secondary castellum
castella sedimentation/cistern
and
water
towers

Image adapted from:

Aicher, Peter J. Guide to the Aqueducts of Ancient Rome. 1st ed. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc., 1995. p. 18.

43
At the end of an aqueduct, water was often delivered
to large holding tanks, called cisterns.

Image: http://pjspictures.me.uk/images/Cr_Cistern.jpg 44
 Image: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/foto/p2castellumvirgo.jpg

These also served as final piscinae limariae, slowing

the water’s flow through multiple chambers and
allowing one last chance for sediment to cleaned out
of the water before delivery to the public.
45
 Main Water House and Delivery Pipes
Castella Aquae, Pipae et Fistulae

Castellum Divisorium
closed system (pressurized) open system (gravitational)
public fountains baths
homes, industry

ground main
level pressurized subterranean pipes secondary castellum aquae
castella sedimentation/cistern
and
water
towers
Image adapted from:
Aicher, Peter J. Guide to the Aqueducts of Ancient Rome. 1st ed. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc., 1995. p. 18.

46
 Image: http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/7287015.jpg

The aqueduct’s water then arrived at the rear of

the main distribution house, called the castellum
aquae or the castellum divisorium.
47
 When [aqueducts] are brought to the walls of the city a
castellum is built, with a triple cistern attached to it to
receive the water. In the castellum are three pipes of equal
sizes, [each] connected in such a manner that when water
overflows [from the side basins], it is discharged into the
middle one. [From that middle basin comes a pipe for the
public fountains, and from the side basins come pipes]
a)for the supply of the thermae(baths), thus affording a
yearly revenue to the people and b) for the supply of
private houses… Vitruvius, De Architectura 8.6.1-2.

paraphrase of Vitruvius, De Architectura 8.6.1-2.

cf. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/8*.html

48
 Castellum
divisorium:
sluice gates to
control and direct
flow of water
strainer
lead weir
public supply
thermae
private supply
Image: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/
aquasite/foto/lijntekpompeii.jpg
49
 Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Castellum_Aquae_Pompeii_271.jpg

Water entering the castellum divisorium…

50
Image: http://www.avignon-et-provence.com/tourisme/pont-du-gard/img/pont-du-gard-12.jpg

…was divided into three channels…

51
…which exited the building in three pipes.
Image: http://www.eskimo.com/~mikeg/italy_2007/water_dept.jpg

52
 “That the flavor of
water conveyed in
earthen pipes is
better, is shown at
our daily meals, for
all those whose
tables are furnished
Image: with silver vessels,
http://www.eskimo.com/~mikeg/
italy_2007/water_dept.jpg nevertheless use
earthenware
vessels because the
purity of the
water’s flavor is
preserved in
them”
Vitruvius, De Architectura 8.11
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/ Image:
Image: http://roma.andreapollett.com/ http://roma.andreapollett.com/
Thayer/E/
S3/roma-aq2.htm S3/roma-aq2.htm
Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/8*.html
53
 “Water
conducted
through earthen
pipes is more
wholesome than
that through
Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sparker/2662921627/in/photostream/
lead;
This may be
verified by
observing those
who work with
lead; they are of
a pallid color…”
Paraphrase of:
Vitruvius, De Architectura 8.1-11
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/
Thayer/E/
Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/8*.html Image: http://www.eskimo.com/~mikeg/italy_2007/water_pipes.jpg

54
 Nevertheless,
lead pipes were almost essential for
delivering water under pressure
throughout many large Roman cities.
The possible side-effects of that lead
may well have been diminished,
however, by the natural buildup of
minerals within these pipes, mirroring
the accumulation of sinter within an
aqueduct’s specus.
55
 Water Towers and Water Pressure:
Secondary Castella and Public Consumption
closed system (pressurized) open system (gravitational)
public fountains baths
homes, industry

ground main
level pressurized subterranean pipes secondary castellum
castella sedimentation/cistern
and
water
towers
Image adapted from:
Aicher, Peter J. Guide to the Aqueducts of Ancient Rome. 1st ed. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc., 1995. p. 18.

56
 Image: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/94/260046813_06c17543b4.jpg

Thirsty visitors gather for a drink.

Where will their water come from?

57
 In most Roman cities, the
castellum aquae was located, as
it was in Pompeii, on the highest
spot in town. There the great
force of the mighty aqueduct
pushed water into small
diameter lead pipes and that
water, further pressurized by
gravity on its downhill route,
continued on to secondary
castella, which we call water
towers, located in many local
neighborhoods. There, lead
pipes carried the water up into
lead-lined basins at the top of
brick towers 15 or more feet tall.
Such gravity-feed mini-
Image: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/foto/
reservoirs reduced and
lijntekwatertorenpompeii.jpg regulated the pressure of the
Oleson, John. Handbook of engineering and technology in the Classical water as it entered the next set
world. 1st. New York,, NY: Oxford University Press, USA, 2008. 303. 58
of pipes…
 which actually delivered the
water for the public to drink
at a corner fountain…

Image: http://lejournaldelouise.com/wp-content/ Image: http://image09.webshots.com/

gallery/rome/pompeii-water-fountain.jpg 9/8/79/35/115187935GPIMbo_ph.jpg

59
 Image: http://www.ostia-
antica.org/regio2/pr/viafon.htm

Image: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nHmUxKq2nz4/SiC_RBHjJeI/AAAAAAAAB3k/umlse2xG5NI/s1600-
h/2008-05-22+257+Ercolano+-+Herculaneum.jpg

…or carry back in a bucket to businesses

or homes in their neighborhood.
60
 Some wealthy Romans paid to
Image: http://museumvictoria.com.au/
have water piped directly into
melbournemuseum/discoverycentre/
pompeii/objects/water-pipe/
their homes, where it often was
put to use for fountains in their
own private gardens (horti).

Image: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1136/624800701_ee6a3e9e87.jpg
Image: http://enginova.com/water

61
 Remember, too,
that one- third of
the water leaving
a castellum
divisorium, was
directed to the
public baths.

62
 In the thermae, it filled both
steamy hot-water soaking basins
and cold-water plunge pools…

Image: http://0.tqn.com/d/gouk/
1/0/O/-/-/-/bath.jpg

… and, as a fresh
supply continually
entered, dirty water
was channeled from
the bathhouse...
Image: http://images.travelpod.com/users/bandglittle/
uk2006.1167413760.pc292754.jpg 63
 Image: http://images.travelpod.com/users/bandglittle/uk2006.1167413760.pc292754.jpg

into adjoining latrines, where it flushed away waste

and, in many Roman cities, carried it outdoors
64
 into cloacae (sewers) under
the street, which then carried
it to nearby rivers or the sea-

Image:
http://www.tempt.ee/uploads/
3457_cloaca%20maxima1.jpg

underscoring why
Romans expended Image: http://0.tqn.com/d/ancienthistory/

such great effort to 1/0/s/a/2/800px-040227_tevere16CloacaMaxima.jpg

build the aqueducts that supplied fresh water from afar.

65