How did the Roman Aqueaducts work?

Question

how did they keep the water fresh?

where were they all located?

how were they built?

Answer 1

the water was running all the time they were located all around the roman empire , you still can see some of them well preserved in Italy, Spain and France

Answer 2

The mountain snowmelt essentially kept the water fresh since the aqueducts weren't storage tanks so much as they were pipes. The water that came through the fountains and such was as fresh as it could be without actually hauling it from the mountains or a well.

They were primarily built in major cities that had limited water supplies or cultural centers such as Rome (obviously), Constantinople, and quite a few other places. There also had to be a ready supply of water elsewhere that was fairly close by because otherwise, the cost of building an aqueduct would have been prohibitively expensive.

As for their construction, the actual waterways were constructed on top of arches for strength and stability. The reason why these aqueducts are so special is because one chief construction element is that along its entire span, there's a downward slope. Depending on the length of the aqueduct, it can literally span miles before dropping a full degree. There were later innovations that allowed for rudimentary pumps that got water uphill, but I think the coolest part is by far the mathematical precision the Romans built these things.

Answer 3

THey kept the water fresh because the water was constantly moving, like a river.

They were located all over the Empire...

They were built by architects, stonemasons, labourers, etc using some basic yet advanced masonry principles. Arches to bear weight. A slight slope to carry the water.

I once read about the actual way they got water to cross rivers and uphill, can't remember now exactly.

What I can't understand is why don't people research this stuff and get professional answers, instead of relying on amateur info? Unless of course it's just an excuse to be social or they prefer amateur advice.

Answer 4

The aqueducts also show the limitations of Roman engineering. We have the same thing today but they are pipes buried underground so you only see them in places such as where they cross rivers. The aqueducts were visible because the Romans could not make pipes with joints that would resist the pressure from the head of water so they were built with a constant gradient.

Answer 5

There were 11 aqueducts, some over 50 miles long. They worked on gravity alone. The water was not treated to be kept "fresh". Although aqueducts had been built in earlier times, what was so amazing about the Roman aqueduct was the brand new invention of cutting rock, actually shaping it into a special wedge shape to make the arches supporting parts of the aqueducts. A bunch of brainy Etruscans, not Romans, actually constructed them and came up with the wedge idea. That shaping of the rocks led us to look more closely at rocks, at what they were made of. We pulverized them, experimented with them, discovered the elements in those pulverized powder of rocks, looked closer and saw atoms.

http://www.usi.edu/artdept/artinindiana/Glossary/images/arch.jpg
http://classics.furman.edu/~rprior/imgs/RCU5/5-125.jpg

Answer 6

They moved the fresh water from the mountains to the city..... The mountains are high up so just the flow of gravity let the water do its job and they were made of brick. Do a web search and have a look. I was in Rome three weeks ago and saw the remains of them near the Colosseum and they were massive.

Answer 7

they didn't do much to keep the water fresh, i don't think. They had covers and maybe constantly flowed. I think they started high and worked thier way slightly down hill to keep the water moving, and they roman's love that arch that kept up the stretches outside the city. In the city i think most went underground.

Answer 8

Ancient Rome had eleven major aqueducts, built between 312 B.C. (AquaAppia) and 226 A.D. (Aqua Alexandrina); the longest (Anio Novus) was 59 miles long. It has been calculated that in imperial times, when the city's population was well over a million, the distribution system was able to provide over one cubic meter of water per day for each inhabitant: more than we are accustomed to use nowadays.

For most of their length the early aqueducts were simply channels bored through the rock, from the water intake in the hills almost to the distribution cistern in Rome. The depth of the channel below ground varied so as to maintain a constant, very shallow gradient (less than 1/200) throughout the length of the aqueduct; vertical shafts were bored at intervals to provide ventilation and access.

Only in the final stretches was theconduit raised on arches, to give a sufficient head for distribution of the water within the city.

In order to keep the gradient constant, the aqueducts took a roundabout route, following the contours of the land and heading along spurs which led towards Rome.

As time went on, Roman engineers became more daring in the construction of high arches to support the conduits across valleys and plains and some of the later aqueducts were as much as 27 meters (about 100 feet) above ground level in places.

Closed pipes were occasionally used to cross valleys by the "inverted syphon" method: the pressure forced the water down and up again on the other side, to a level slightly lower than before. But this system was costly, as it required lead pipes (lead had to be imported from Spain or Great Britain) and it was difficult to make joints strong enough to withstand the pressure; so arches were far more common.

Except where closed pipes were used, the channel in which the water flowed was just over three feet wide and about six feet high, to allow workers to walk throughout its length - when the water supply had been cut off - for inspection and maintenance. Where the aqueduct went through impermeable rock it was not lined, but where the rock was porous, and where the conduit ran on arches, a layer of impermeable concrete was applied to form a waterproof lining (opus signinum).

Every now and then there was a sedimentation tank, where the flow of water slowed down and impurities were deposited. Where two or more conduits ran near one another, as was common in later times, there were places in which water could be exchanged between them, either to increase the flow of an aqueduct carrying little water or so that one of the conduits could be emptied for maintenance and repair.

When the water reached Rome, it flowed into huge cisterns (castella), situated on high ground, from which it was distributed through lead pipes to the different areas of the city. Part of the water was for the emperor's use, part of it was sold to rich citizens, who - for a price - could have it piped to their private villas, but much of it was available to the populace through a network of public fountains, which were located at crossroads throughout the city, never more than 100 meters apart. Enormous amounts of water went to supply the numerous baths complexes, such as the Baths of Caracalla.

For centuries, an army of laborers was constantly at work, under the supervision of the curator aquarum, extending and repairing the water system. But in the 6th century A.D., as the power of the Empire began to decline, the Goths besieged Rome and cut almost all the aqueducts leading into the city. (The only one that continued to function was that of the Aqua Virgo, which ran entirely underground.)

One or two were later restored and were used during the Middle Ages, but most of the population had to resort to the Tiber as the only source of water: it is for this reason that the medieval buildings of Rome lie almost exclusively in the two great bends of the river, the Campo Marzio and Trastevere. It was not until Renaissance times that the Eternal City was once again provided with aqueducts and fountains.


Found an interesting website called "Roman Aquducts"... it has LOTS of useful information as well as links. Check them and others below in source as some have good pictures and graphics to help you get an idea on how it works.

Hope this has helped a bit. :-)

Answer 9

Well done, Janette.
Brilliant answer reminding us how good the Roman engineers were.