Precious as the Water.
WATER MANAGEMENT FROM POTS TO PIPES
The invention of water pipes occurred in several places around 2000 - 3000 BCE. At Abusir in Egypt a 75mm diameter pipeline, approximately 360m long, had been found. Dating from 2750 BCE, it is the oldest known metal pipe. It was made from copper sheet about 1mm thick, and was probably used to carry irrigation water. Elaborate systems of water pipes formed part of the Greek and Roman Aqueducts. In 200 BCE the aqueduct supplying water to the Greek city of Perganum in Asia Minor included a 2000m section of pipe made of tiles. This helped to carry the water from a stream in the hills to a reservoir over 2km away from the city. From there it was taken in 200mm diameter wooden pipes, reinforced at the joints by passing through holes in large stone blocks. The Aqueducts of the Roman Empire usually emptied into reservoirs on the outskirts of the town. From there the water went by pipes to public collection fountains, or straight to the wealthy. The pipes were made of (approx) 10mm thick lead sheet with soldered joints along the length. Each pipe about 3m long and soldered end to end to form the pipeline. The Romans also used wooden pipes too.
From
Pots...
to Aquaducts...
to Plastic
Pipes
In London between 1608 and 1613, Hugh Myddleton, a wealthy goldsmith, built the “New River” a canal, bringing about 600m3 of water a day from a spring in Herefordshire, about 70km north. It emptied into a reservoir at Islington (a village near London) from where it was distributed through about 90km of Elmwood pipes, made from tree trunks and logs with a hole bored through its centre. Soon after 1810, replacement of London’s wooden water mains began with cast iron, which could take higher pressure with less leakage. Cast Iron water pipes were first used at the castle of Dillenburg in Germany in 1455. Lead pipes remained popular up to 20th century because they were easy to manipulate but were abandoned because of the fear of lead poisoning. Copper is the modern preferred internal piping.
