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- The Aqueducts of Rome: past and present
Opening a tap in our house is a habitual gesture. However, what lies behind is a complex system of aqueducts, purification plants and drinking water distribution across the territories and homes. In Rome, this vast water network is entirely managed by Acea, allowing the daily access to drinking water of the highest quality.
''Regina aquarum'', i.e., ''queen of waters'', was one of the ways in which the ancient city of Rome was called, showing that since its foundation, its history has been closely bound to water.
Beginning in 312 B.C. and over a period of 5 centuries, 11 aqueducts were built in the city of Rome, ensuring an enormous water supply.
The technical skills of the Romans in aqueduct construction were inherited not only from Phoenicians and Greeks, but especially from the Etruscans.
The sources of water supply were selected taking into account continuity of flow, purity and freshness. They mainly consist of underground springs and, only exceptionally, surface water.
The Romans had a deep knowledge of the basics of hydraulics. Not only did they dig tunnels and raised arches for future aqueducts in Rome, but also built reservoirs, distribution tanks, low-pressure pipes and equipment.
The engineering technique applied to aqueducts in Rome was based on channelization – either underground or suspended and open – as in the case of the Roman Acqua Appia aqueduct, which in 312 B.C. conveyed water from a spring 16 km from the Urbe.
The Roman engineers used a particular technique: as they proceeded with the construction of the conduct through the hill, they dug shafts, thus keeping the degree of inclination of the gallery under control. Once out the hill, the conduct had also to be supported. For this reason, stone walls were built along its way to the city. Often, however, the pipe had to flow several meters above the ground. In such cases, the construction of a retaining wall was too expensive; the solution was the arch, which performed the same functions for Roman aqueducts as the wall, but with the use of fewer materials.
With the construction of the great aqueducts in Rome, a particular water culture developed in the city. Water supply was considered a primary public service with hygienic, ornamental (fountains), thermal and recreational (naumachiae) purposes.
Of the 11 aqueducts supplying the city in Ancient Rome, some still survive restored to this day. The Aqua Virgo is the only one of the ancient Roman aqueducts still in operation.
The Roman Aqua Virgo aqueduct is the only among the aqueducts in Ancient Rome to be still in operation today, despite more than twenty centuries have passed from its construction (it was inaugurated on 9 June 19 BC). Its crystal-clear waters still feed parks, gardens, flowerbeds and artistic fountains in the centre of Rome.
This Roman aqueduct owes its longevity to its almost total underground development, with depths that can exceed 40 metres, as for instance in the Parioli district. Inside the speco, (i.e., the flow channel), water flows slowly, advancing at free surface, thus not under pressure, pushed only by the force of gravity due to the slight slope of its bottom.
The Aqua Virgo aqueduct originates in Salone, more or less at kilometre 12 of the current Via Collatina – where the ancient springs of Aqua Virgo are located – and ends its course behind a small door at n.1 Via della Stamperia. It is here that it fulfils its last task: feeding the Trevi Fountain, with a continuous flow of 120 litres per seconds, ensured by a water recirculation system.
Before reaching the Palazzo Poli plant, the Aqua Virgo supplies other reservoirs and plants.
The elevated reservoir named Volturno, after the street where it was built, has a capacity of about 1,000 m3. Its water is distributed under pressure in pipes of the streets adjacent to Roma Termini station, in the Esquilino and Viminale districts, and feeds gardens, flowerbeds, artistic fountains and numerous 'watering holes' on the pavements that, especially in the past, were used for washing the streets.
Furthermore, the pumping station located close to the Aurelian Walls, near Villa Medici, supplies a remarkable quantity of water (flow rates of 80 litres per seconds can be reached in summer) to a reservoir located near Porta Pinciana. Through this reservoir, almost all the watering of the Villa Borghese gardens is ensured.
Finally, once the Aqua Virgo aqueduct reaches the Bottino of San Sebastianello, near Piazza di Spagna, also feeds the watering network in the historic centre of Rome. The network pipes distribute water to different non-drinking utilities located in the districts of Campo Marzio, Trevi, Colonna. It is essentially water that feeds artistic fountains inside buildings of the historic centre and public fountains as those in Piazza Colonna or Via degli Stradivari.
With regard to different Roman aqueducts, the remains of some of them can still be visited today. It is possible in different areas of the city to see the evocative remains of the following Roman aqueducts:
- Anio Vetus (Aniene Vecchio),
- Aqua Marcia (Acquedotto dell’Acqua Marcia),
- Aqua Virgo (Acquedotto dell’Acqua Vergine),
- Aqua Claudia (Acquedotto Claudio),
- Anio Novus (Aniene Nuovo),
- Aqua Traiana (Acquedotto Traiano),
- Aqua Alexandrina (Acquedotto Alessandrino)
- Aqua Felix (Acquedotto Felice)
The Peschiera-Capore aqueduct is one of the most important engineering works of the modern era.
The need for the construction of the aqueduct arose in the early 1900s, when the city of Rome was experienced a large population growth which made necessary the construction of an infrastructure capable of supplying the entire city.
The work for the new aqueduct ended in 1949, and continued into the 60s with further extensions; the Peschiera-Capore as we know it today was completed in 1980.
The aqueduct system of Peschiera-Capore extends over 130 km and serves 54 municipalities. It is now undergoing a series of interventions aimed at ensuring the protection and safety of the water supply for the city of Rome.
In view of this, Acea, in agreement with the reference institutions, has carried out preparatory actions to realize a new upper section.
The upgrading includes the reinforcement of tunnels and galleries and the extension network by equipping it with remote control, a technology capable of monitoring the network and thus intervening when necessary.
Today, 80% of spring water supplying the city of Rome comes from the Peschiera-Capore aqueduct; this is supplemented by the new Marcio aqueduct.
The Marcio aqueduct is to be counted among the strategic infrastructure for water supply in the city of Rome and its province, currently being upgraded with the aim of increasing safety and sustainability while maximizing environmental protection.
As regards the Peschiera Aqueduct, in 2022 the Sustainability Report was completed, in accordance with the reference regulations of the PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan), and the authorisation process was started. For the Marcio Aqueduct, the document concerning the implementation of the Minimum Environmental Criteria (CAM) has been completed.
The CAMs - adopted by Decree of the Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea Protection of Italy – are the minimum environmental requirements aimed at rationalize consumptions and purchasing by providing indications for the identification of better design solutions, products or services from an environmental point of view.
Water distribution in Rome is carried out through an extensive network of aqueducts and pipelines: due to its complexity and strategic nature, the Roman water network is continually undergoing maintenance and efficiency improvements.
In modern aqueducts, water flows along pipelines (that is, the largest pipes in the aqueduct system) which can work either under pressure or at free surface.
Free-surface currents are a type of motion generated by water in rivers or in pipelines that are not under pressure. The Peschiera-Capore aqueduct is, for example, characterized by pipelines in which water flows in both modes.
One of the efficiency improvements that Acea is carrying out on Rome's aqueduct network is the implementation of an extensive and capillary system that, through a large number of sensors and flow, pressure, level and quality measurements, allows the remote control of water.
In addition, every year, infrastructures are upgraded and modernized with the aim of constantly improving the level of service provided.
Although the water distributed in Rome is of high quality by nature, Acea Group periodically performs interventions aimed at ensuring high standards not only for the drinking water used by citizens, but also for water returned to the environment with a view to safeguarding ecosystems.
This last operation is made possible through the sewage and purification system, which collects water already used for 'civil' purposes and then returns it to purifiers that make it reusable for new uses, such as agriculture.
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