The Effects of Water Transportation and Sanitation Systems on Ancient Rome and Their Influence on the Systems of Today (Essay Sample)

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The Effects of Water Transportation and Sanitation Systems on Ancient Rome and Their Influence on the Systems of Today  PAGEREF _Toc448986334 \h
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The History and Development Of Water Transport And Sanitation  PAGEREF _Toc448986335 \h
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Creations of Aqueducts  PAGEREF _Toc448986336 \h
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City Sanitization  PAGEREF _Toc448986337 \h
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Conclusion  PAGEREF _Toc448986338 \h
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Work cited  PAGEREF _Toc448986339 \h
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The Effects of Water Transportation and Sanitation Systems on Ancient Rome and Their Influence on the Systems of Today.
Introduction
Ancient Rome is revered for its state-of-art water transportation and sanitation systems. This research paper is going to focus on the development of ancient Rome’s aqueduct, what inspired them to develop such systems, and the effect it had on the people living in the Roman city. It will also carry out an analytical discourse on the influence the ancient Rome water and waste systems had on the modern day American water transportation and sanitation. The purpose of this paper is not only to facilitate the understanding of the significance of the ancient architectural and engineering feats but also the comprehension of the origin of the modern water and waste systems.
Based on the archeological excavations, the Mesopotamian Empire’s communities were the first to have latrines that were linked to cesspits, as well as the first to utilize better water supply systems. However, the Romans took the concept of architectural water transportation systems a substantial notch higher.
At first, ancient Rome used the Tiber River and local springs for drinking water. It was only when the source became polluted that they had to look for a new viable option. Moreover, the increasing population in the ancient Roman city was outgrowing the available source of water. It was these necessities that triggered the ancient Romans to innovate the use of aqueduct technology in the year 312 B.C. Due to its convenience; the system is still being adopted in the modern world in the modern America.
Such studies reveal that Roman water and sanitation systems offered a constant supply to centrally based regions while the modern systems provide water on demand/request to individual connections. In both modern and ancient water and sanitation systems, the access points were located outside the household. According to modern standards, the ancient Roman city was quite undesirable to live in, filled extremely noisy streets and offering poor services. But despite the problems that marred the ancient Rome, the water transportation and sanitation systems was certainly a great engineering realization. Even though today’s systems are obviously more convenient than that of the ancient Rome, it cannot escape the fact that the ancient’s concepts and creation have formed the basis of the modern water and waste transportation systems.
Before divulging into the history of aqueducts, which dates back to years before Christ, it is first imperative to understand what it means. According to the explanation of Coarelli, (445-500)
“An aqueduct refers to an organized means of transporting water from one region to another, hence attaining a more controlled and regular supply of water to a place that would not otherwise receive enough water to cater for their basic needs.”
Aqueducts can either be a network of surface canals and channels, underground tunnels, or even monumental pipes and bridges. Before the infamous aqueduct technology was tried and tested in Rome, the Romans were using local water sources such as lakes, rivers, and springs. Few years later, the city could no longer get enough water as the population was increasing. Moreover, by that time the groundwater and the water from Tiber River was seriously unpalatable, which prompted a need for another reliable supply of water (Sic, n.d.). In the year 312 B.C. censor, Appius Caecus led an opening of Aqua Appia, which was regarded as the first Rome aqueduct. The aqueduct came into existence during the construction of the strategic road running from Capua to Rome, known as Appian Way. The first commissioning of the aqueduct led to the development of many more. They were drawing water from various springs in the highlands and valley of the Annio, to the East side (De Kleijn, 70). A complex network of tributary feeds, aqueducts junctions, and distribution tanks supplied every part of ancient Rome on the east side of Tiber. On the west side of Tiber River, no aqueducts were present until Emperor Trajan created the Aqua Traina, which used to collect water from Lake Bracciano. Just to show the significance of this feature in the ancient Rome, by the late 3rd century AD there were over eleven aqueducts. The main uses of the aqueduct were to supply the city with enough water, but people had to fetch them with buckets and storage jars from the access points. The aqueducts were developed from a combination of brick, stone, and special volcanic cement known as pozzuolana. While most aqueducts seem to be running above ground, great portions of the Roman waterway systems were underground (Coarelli, 445-500).
The History and Development of Water Transport And Sanitation
A couple of centuries before the birth of Christ, Etruscan built the Cloaca Maxima drainage system that had an outlet into the Tiber River. This is where water from latrines, baths, fountains, palaces, and urban runoff would be discharged. However, this later caused immense pollution and uproar in the Roman community. By the year 100 A.D., the ancient Roman city had managed to create a network of sewage systems that facilitated the disposal of waste from the latrines. This wastewater system was connected to both private and public homes. This really influenced the sanitation engineering in the modern word. Furthermore this increased sanitation in the city (Koloski-Ostrow, n.d.).
The creations and concepts of the ancient water and sanitation systems formed the basis of the modern water and wastewater systems. America is a perfect example of a country that has widely advanced in the transportation of water and disposal of sewage from homes, towns and cities. Because of the concepts that were invented centuries ago, most Americans now have access to clean water, contemporary sanitation, as well as the freedom from diseases that are usually brought about by dirty water. Although this is a reality in many countries around the world, the United States of America pioneered significant technologies and institutional revolutions that led to the revolution of water and wastewater systems. In the early beginnings of America, cities like Philadelphia used to have great challenges of water supply and sewage disposal (Niva, and Lydia, n.d.). For example, a lot of people were forced to walk large distances to fetch water in the rivers, streams and lakes. The quality of the water was unappealing, since the water bodies were being polluted by tunnels of sewers that used to empty dirt from towns and homes. 200 years later, the American city has developed new technologies such as; supplying its water through a centralized system, with the help of hydro pumps and treating sewage with improved disinfection systems (Daniel, and Stephen, 67-100). These efforts pioneered the revolution of water and sanitation systems in America. Back in the 18th century, most cities in the United States of America were facing serious challenges with the supply of water and sanitation issues. Due to poor drainage systems in the 18th century, there was widespread yellow fever that was later determined to be because of contaminated water supply. Such incidences led to the need of creating a proper drainage system in the country. Giving a timeline of what took place in Philadelphia, U.S water history, Kramek and Lydia penned, “In 1790s – 1800s; Yellow fever epidemics led to an increased panic; residents believed that contaminated water supply was the cause. Watering Committee formed in 1799 to provide clean water”.
In the 1890s, the citizens of Philadelphia were forced to riot against the poor water resources condition that was constantly marred with typhoid and yellow fever outbreaks. The responsible city government later built a proper filtration plant that helped to prevent the epidemic outbreak, and also warned against reckless disposal of wastewater by industries and homes. This was the first of many underground sewers built in 18th century America and Philadelphia. Unfortunately, it led to the conveyance of dirty water to the lakes and rivers that in turn led to severe water pollution. The reliable water supply in the country that allowed people to install bathtubs in their homes created the necessity to get rid of dirty water (Daniel, and Stephen, 98). The simplest way to do so was through using street sewers as waste pathways to nearby streams. But the sewage system, now through pipes, polluted the water bodies such as Delaware and Schuylkill rivers.
The issue of pollution and poor sanitation services was a large concern in the United States cities up to the mid-twentieth century. As a trial method, Philadelphia city developed a system of interceptor sewers, as well as treatment plants that were used to treat sewage before they were released to the nearby water bodies. Subsequently, national agencies in the country were formed to ensure that the treatment plants commensurate with the health and environmental regulations (Lens, et al. 50).
After realizing the intuitiveness of having access to clean water, ancient Rome substantial...