Rome’s First Water Delivery Solutions

Rome’s First Water Delivery Solutions With the building of the very first raised aqueduct in Rome, the Aqua Anio Vetus in 273 BC, people who lived on the city’s foothills no longer had to rely strictly on naturally-occurring spring water for their demands. Over this period, there were only two other innovations capable of supplying water to elevated areas, subterranean wells and cisterns, which amassed rainwater. In the early 16th century, the city began to make use of the water that flowed below the ground through Acqua Vergine to provide water to Pincian Hill. The aqueduct’s channel was made available by pozzi, or manholes, that were added along its length when it was initially designed. While these manholes were provided to make it less difficult to manage the aqueduct, it was also feasible to use containers to extract water from the channel, which was practiced by Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi from the time he bought the property in 1543 to his death in 1552. Though the cardinal also had a cistern to collect rainwater, it couldn't supply enough water. To give himself with a much more efficient system to obtain water, he had one of the manholes opened, offering him access to the aqueduct below his property.

A Guide to Hydrostatics

A Guide to Hydrostatics Liquid in a state of equilibrium applies force on the objects it contacts, including its container. There are two forms, hydrostatic load or external forces. When applied against a level surface, the liquid exercises equal force against all points of that surface. All points on an object’s surface are affected by vertical pressure when the object is totally submerged in a liquid that’s in a state of equilibrium. This is also identified as buoyancy or the Archimedes’ principle. Liquid acted on by hydrostatic force is then subject to hydrostatic pressure at the point of contact. These concepts are applied to the containers used by plumbing, wells, and fountains.