174
A. Constantin and C. St. Nitescu
5.2 Drinkable Water Supply Systems
5.2.1 Past and Present of Drinkable Water Supply
Infrastructures
The first evidence of potable water supply facilities in Dobrogea dates from the
Roman period. In the 1st century AD, when the Romans took the rule in Dobrogea, the
region had a few cities that had been founded by the Greek colonists in a Getic space,
long before, in the 7th–6th centuries BC. Among these towns, Tomis—overlapped
by nowadays Constanta—was the most outstanding in the Roman period. The great
Latin poet Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BC–17/18 AD), who spent the last nine years
of his life at Tomis, mentions, in his poems Pontice, the brackish water the locals
used to drink.
Tomis continued to flourish, becoming the capital of Scythia Minor province.
The number of inhabitants increased, and the water demand was higher and higher.
Archaeological proves bring data about the drinkable water sources and the aqueducts
built to convey water to the city. The archaeologists have different opinions regarding
the way Tomis was supplied by water, but they agree the primary sources of fresh
water were the aquifers placed on the Western side of Siutghiol Lake. The aquifers
were a quality source of fresh water. Besides, the locals used water from lakes and
wells.
As Tomis became The Left Pont Metropolis, expensive waterworks were done.
The groundwater was taken through a drainage gallery from the aquifer next to the
Capidava—Ovidiu fault (from a spot close to Mamaia resort) and was conveyed to the
city by two aqueducts. Later on, the continuous increase in freshwater consumption
determined the community to build a longer aqueduct, which would have tripled the
amount of conveyed water. This high cost construction was possible when the city
became the capital of the Scythia Minor province.
The remains of this aqueduct which would have been supplying Tomis during
the first centuries AD, helped the archaeologists to restore its way from the source
end-Canara-along the Black Sea shore, to the city. The dashed line represents the
curved way of this aqueduct of about 20 km in length in Fig. 5.3 [18]. We have to
mention that at that time the shoreline was farther into the nowadays sea area, so the
aqueduct was not as close to the sea as it seems [2]. In the fortified area, the water,
brought by these aqueducts, was kept under the city in a system of galleries, partly
dug into the natural rock, partially made of waterproof stone and brick masonry. In
several parts of the city, especially in public areas, wells communicating with these
galleries allowed people to draw out drinkable water.
In the Middle Age, the city had an extended period of decay. So in the Modern
era, at the very beginning of the twentieth century, [12] said that “the inhabitants of
Constanta drank the same water the poet Ovidius had drunk” referring to the brackish
water in the most of the wells in use.
The first modern drillings, in search of the deep fresh water, were made by a
Belgian firm in 1897, close to Constanta, in the Caragea-Dermen area. The water
A. Constantin and C. St. Nitescu
5.2 Drinkable Water Supply Systems
5.2.1 Past and Present of Drinkable Water Supply
Infrastructures
The first evidence of potable water supply facilities in Dobrogea dates from the
Roman period. In the 1st century AD, when the Romans took the rule in Dobrogea, the
region had a few cities that had been founded by the Greek colonists in a Getic space,
long before, in the 7th–6th centuries BC. Among these towns, Tomis—overlapped
by nowadays Constanta—was the most outstanding in the Roman period. The great
Latin poet Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BC–17/18 AD), who spent the last nine years
of his life at Tomis, mentions, in his poems Pontice, the brackish water the locals
used to drink.
Tomis continued to flourish, becoming the capital of Scythia Minor province.
The number of inhabitants increased, and the water demand was higher and higher.
Archaeological proves bring data about the drinkable water sources and the aqueducts
built to convey water to the city. The archaeologists have different opinions regarding
the way Tomis was supplied by water, but they agree the primary sources of fresh
water were the aquifers placed on the Western side of Siutghiol Lake. The aquifers
were a quality source of fresh water. Besides, the locals used water from lakes and
wells.
As Tomis became The Left Pont Metropolis, expensive waterworks were done.
The groundwater was taken through a drainage gallery from the aquifer next to the
Capidava—Ovidiu fault (from a spot close to Mamaia resort) and was conveyed to the
city by two aqueducts. Later on, the continuous increase in freshwater consumption
determined the community to build a longer aqueduct, which would have tripled the
amount of conveyed water. This high cost construction was possible when the city
became the capital of the Scythia Minor province.
The remains of this aqueduct which would have been supplying Tomis during
the first centuries AD, helped the archaeologists to restore its way from the source
end-Canara-along the Black Sea shore, to the city. The dashed line represents the
curved way of this aqueduct of about 20 km in length in Fig. 5.3 [18]. We have to
mention that at that time the shoreline was farther into the nowadays sea area, so the
aqueduct was not as close to the sea as it seems [2]. In the fortified area, the water,
brought by these aqueducts, was kept under the city in a system of galleries, partly
dug into the natural rock, partially made of waterproof stone and brick masonry. In
several parts of the city, especially in public areas, wells communicating with these
galleries allowed people to draw out drinkable water.
In the Middle Age, the city had an extended period of decay. So in the Modern
era, at the very beginning of the twentieth century, [12] said that “the inhabitants of
Constanta drank the same water the poet Ovidius had drunk” referring to the brackish
water in the most of the wells in use.
The first modern drillings, in search of the deep fresh water, were made by a
Belgian firm in 1897, close to Constanta, in the Caragea-Dermen area. The water