The Aqueduct

The Roman Aqueduct is an example of brilliant Roman engineering. The aqueduct was an advanced aboveground and belowground waterway made mostly of stone, brick and a type of volcanic cement called pozzuolana. The majority of it was below ground, which often forced the aqueduct to go through rock to transport the water. Of the 260 miles of aqueduct that were built, 230 are underground. The other 30 miles are the most visible and the most grand looking. In order to keep the water moving, the Roman had to use gravity to keep constant downhill motion.

When the water reached Rome, it was kept in large reservoirs called castella (cisterns). From these enormous reservoirs, the rest of the water was distributed throughout the city through lead pipes. The water was used for public fountains and baths as well as for private use (if a fee was paid). At its height, the aqueducts could deliver an incredible one cubic meter of what per person when the population of Rome was at one million. In order to make sure the entire aqueduct system worked properly, a Curator Aquarum was assigned to make sure the system worked. He was in charge of the 11 aqueducts that supplied Rome that were built over 500 years. The first of these was the Aqua Appia built alongside the famous Via Appia in 312 BC. The one that carried water the furthest was the Aqua Novus with a 59 mile reach. The final one built was the Aqua Alexandrina in 226 AD. Other curators were responsible for the aqueducts in the provinces. If the Curator Aquarum could find a way to bring more water into Rome, he could gain more political power.

It is difficult to move water over long distances without modern technology, so ancient Romans had to be crafty in the design of the aqued...

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...os Angeles River could not supply enough water to meet the city’s needs. Already, 175,000 people did not have sufficient water. Finding another water supply was necessary for the city to survive. They decided to use Owen’s Lake and the Owen’s River valley as the source of water. This was a particularly good area to draw water from because it recieved plentiful snow runoff from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. They built a 226 mile aqueduct to carry this water to Los Angeles. Later, in the 1970’s, the amount of water Los Angeles needed far surpassed what the aqueduct could carry them. The second aqueduct carried water from the Hawaii River Reservoir. Together, the two can carry 430 million gallons of water.