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@boag
Aqueducts were run from mountains to cities to transport potable water from uncontaminated year round sources. The ideal was that they would run downhill for the entire run, so they could be gravity fed; if that wasn't possible, then artificial means to force the water uphill would be supplied, but that would add to the ongoing expenses of operation so was avoided as much as possible. They were generally elevated; the idea was to maintain a constant slope without regard to the changes in terrain so that the water flowed at a constant rate. They were covered, to minimize evaporation and contamination en route. If a city became dependent upon aqueducts for water, seizing control of those aqueducts became an objective in times of strife.
While initially sewage was purely streetside gutters, a major improvement would be below ground sewage pipes/tunnels, with grates in the gutters to allow the waste to be flushed into the sewers, very much as is done today.
It's possible that water supplied by aqueducts in excess of potable water needs would be utilized to provide water flow through the sewers, but that wasn't a primary purpose for aqueducts, to the best of my recollection; it's been 30+ years since I've read anything concerning this, and it wasn't anything I read about in depth.
Sewers do have problems with following the contours of the land; on level ground, or those circumstances where it wasn't possible to avoid travelling uphill, something other than gravity would be required to keep the sewage moving.
Aqueducts were run from mountains to cities to transport potable water from uncontaminated year round sources. The ideal was that they would run downhill for the entire run, so they could be gravity fed; if that wasn't possible, then artificial means to force the water uphill would be supplied, but that would add to the ongoing expenses of operation so was avoided as much as possible. They were generally elevated; the idea was to maintain a constant slope without regard to the changes in terrain so that the water flowed at a constant rate. They were covered, to minimize evaporation and contamination en route. If a city became dependent upon aqueducts for water, seizing control of those aqueducts became an objective in times of strife.
While initially sewage was purely streetside gutters, a major improvement would be below ground sewage pipes/tunnels, with grates in the gutters to allow the waste to be flushed into the sewers, very much as is done today.
It's possible that water supplied by aqueducts in excess of potable water needs would be utilized to provide water flow through the sewers, but that wasn't a primary purpose for aqueducts, to the best of my recollection; it's been 30+ years since I've read anything concerning this, and it wasn't anything I read about in depth.
Sewers do have problems with following the contours of the land; on level ground, or those circumstances where it wasn't possible to avoid travelling uphill, something other than gravity would be required to keep the sewage moving.
