The Romans constructed numerous aqueducts to serve any large city in their empire, as well as many small towns and industrial sites. The city of Rome had the largest concentration of aqueducts, with water being supplied by eleven aqueducts constructed over a period of about 500 years. They served drinking water and supplied the numerous baths and fountains in, as well as finally being emptied into the sewers, where the once-used gray water performed its last function in removing waste matter.
The first Roman aqueduct was the Aqua Appia, built in 312 BC during the Roman Republic. The methods of construction are described by Vitruvius in his work De Architectura written in the 1st century BC. His book would have been of great assistance to Frontinus, a general who was appointed in the late 1st century AD to administer the many aqueducts of Rome. He discovered a discrepancy between the intake and supply of water caused by illegal pipes inserted into the channels to divert the water, and reported on his efforts to improve and regulate the system to the emperor Trajan at the end of the 1st century AD. The report of his investigation is known as De aquaeductu. In addition to masonry aqueducts, the Romans built many more leats — channels excavated in the ground, usually with a clay lining. They could serve industrial sites such as gold mines, lead and tin mines, forges, water-mills and baths or thermae. Leats were much cheaper than the masonry design, but all aqueducts required good surveying to ensure a regular and smooth flow of water.
The Romans constructed numerous aqueducts to serve any large city in their empire, as well as many small towns and industrial sites. The city of Rome had the largest concentration of aqueducts, with water being supplied by eleven aqueducts constructed over a period of about 500 years. They served drinking water and supplied the numerous baths and fountains in, as well as finally being emptied into the sewers, where the once-used gray water performed its last function in removing waste matter.
The first Roman aqueduct was the Aqua Appia, built in 312 BC during the Roman Republic. The methods of construction are described by Vitruvius in his work De Architectura written in the 1st century BC. His book would have been of great assistance to Frontinus, a general who was appointed in the late 1st century AD to administer the many aqueducts of Rome. He discovered a discrepancy between the intake and supply of water caused by illegal pipes inserted into the channels to divert the water, and reported on his efforts to improve and regulate the system to the emperor Trajan at the end of the 1st century AD. The report of his investigation is known as De aquaeductu. In addition to masonry aqueducts, the Romans built many more leats — channels excavated in the ground, usually with a clay lining. They could serve industrial sites such as gold mines, lead and tin mines, forges, water-mills and baths or thermae. Leats were much cheaper than the masonry design, but all aqueducts required good surveying to ensure a regular and smooth flow of water.