Roman water supplies: springs, wells, pipes and drains

Begin with the source

Water could come from springs, rivers, wells and collected rainfall. A settlement’s choices depended on its landscape and the work needed to obtain a reliable supply. The great arcaded aqueduct is only one possible image of Roman water engineering; it should not stand for every British town or farm.

Supply is different from drainage

Follow clean water towards its users, then trace waste water away. Channels and pipes could serve baths, fountains or buildings, while drains carried water elsewhere. An excavated channel needs context before it can be labelled a drinking-water supply, sewer or part of an industrial process.

Bath as a case study

At Bath a naturally hot spring lay at the heart of the bathing and religious complex. That unusual resource differs from the furnace-heated water and rooms of many other bath houses. Use the official walkthrough to separate the spring, bathing spaces and associated structures, then compare them with a frontier fort’s bath house.