THE WATER SYSTEM OF ANCIENT ROME - The Romans are renowned for engineering marvels, among which is the aqueduct that carried water for many miles in order to provide a crowded urban population with relatively safe, potable water, as well as less essential but very Roman aquatic uses. Aqueducts were built because the springs, wells, and Tiber River were no longer providing the safe water that was needed for the swelling urban population.

.

The Water System Of Ancient Rome

Aqueducts, Water Supply and Sewers in Ancient Rome

By N.S. Gill

Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow, a Brandeis classicist who has studied the Roman latrine, says, "There are no ancient sources where you can really learn about daily life... You have to come upon information almost by chance."

That means it's hard to answer all the questions or to say with any confidence that this bit of information about the bathroom habits of the Roman Empire applies to the Republic as well.

With that caution, here is some of what we think we know about the water system of ancient Rome.

Roman Water Carriers - Aqueducts

The Romans are renowned for engineering marvels, among which is the aqueduct that carried water for many miles in order to provide a crowded urban population with relatively safe, potable water, as well as less essential but very Roman aquatic uses.

Rome had nine aqueducts by the time of the engineer Sextus Julius Frontinus (circa 35–105), appointed curator aquarum in 97, our main ancient source for the water supply.

The first of these was built in the fourth century B.C. and the last in the first century A.D.

Aqueducts were built because the springs, wells, and Tiber River were no longer providing the safe water that was needed for the swelling urban population.

Aqueducts Listed by Frontinus

1. In 312 B.C., the Appia Aqueduct was built 16,445 meters long.

2. Next was the Anio Verus, built between 272-269, and 63,705 meters.

3. Next was the Marcia, built between 144-140 and 91,424 meters.

4. The next aqueduct was the Tepula, built in 125, and 17,745 meters.

5. The Julia was built in 33 B.C. at 22,854 meters.

6. The Virgo was built in 19 B.C., at 20,697 meters.

7. The next aqueduct is the Alsientina, whose date is unknown. Its length is 32,848.

8. The last two aqueducts were built between 38 and 52 A.D. Claudia was 68,751 meters.

9. The Anio Novus was 86,964 meters.[+]

The Drinking Water Supply in the City

Water did not go to all residents of Rome.

Only the rich had private service and the rich were as likely to divert and, hence steal, the water from the aqueducts as anyone.

Water in residences only reached the lowest floors. Most Romans got their water from a constantly running public fountain.

Baths and Latrines

Aqueducts also supplied water to public latrines and baths.

Latrines served 12-60 people at once with no dividers for privacy or toilet paper -- only a sponge on a stick in the water to pass around.

Fortunately, water ran through the latrines constantly.

Some latrines were elaborate and may have been amusing. Baths were more clearly a form of entertainment as well as hygiene.

Sewer

When you live on the 6th floor of a walk-up with no latrine for blocks, the chances are you'll use a chamberpot.

What do you do with its content? That was the question that faced many an insula dweller in Rome, and many answered in the most obvious way.

They dumped the pot out the window onto any stray passerby. Laws were written to deal with this, but it still went on.

The preferred act was to dump solids into sewers and urine into vats where it was eagerly collected and even bought by fullers who needed the ammonia in their toga cleaning business.

The Big Sewer - The Cloaca Maxima

The main sewer of Rome was the Cloaca Maxima. It emptied into the Tiber River.

It was probably built by one of the Etruscan kings of Rome to drain the marshes in the valleys between the hills.

N.S. Gill is a Latinist and freelance writer with a longtime focus on the classical world.

Experience

In addition to writing articles on ancient history and classics for About.com, N.S. has been interviewed by Public Radio and National Geographic on Valentine's Day and the Roman calendar. She has TA'd classes in the Age of Pericles, technical terms, Classical culture and mythology. She has also taught Latin.

Education

N.S. Gill has a B.A. in Latin and an M.A. in linguistics from the University of Minnesota. She has also done graduate level coursework on classics at the University of Minnesota, writing two master's level papers, one on the misdating of an Oxyrhynchus papyrus and the other on Ovid as part of the program.

N.S. Gill

I hope to help spread the updated classical seed far abroad.

Like the inside of a seed, there is now a full-grown plant waiting to bloom -- in you. Most of the information I am providing is basic (never really "all there is to know about X, Y, or Z"), and often simplified. Especially in citations, you will find many ideas for further reading in the articles I submit, but if you want more, and don't want to go looking all over the place (starting with figuring out what to hunt for in JSTOR and L'Année philologique) for yourself, here is one simple tip:​ Look at the bibliographies for general topics in the Cambridge Ancient History.

https://www.thoughtco.com/aqueducts-water-supply-sewers-ancient-rome-117076

You might also like:
.
Water Supply

Backbone of Civilization and of Our Future

CLICK HERE . . .

http://puricare.blogspot.com/2017/05/water-supply-backbone-of-civilization.html

 .

Ancient Roman Aqueduct

CLICK HERE . . .

http://puricare.blogspot.com/2018/05/ancient-roman-aqueduct-aqueduct.html

.

History of drinking water treatment

CLICK HERE . . .

http://puricare.blogspot.com/2016/10/water-treatment-history-romans-built.html

 .

HIPPOCRATES: 

Father of Water Filters

CLICK HERE . . .

http://puricare.blogspot.com/2016/11/father-of-water-filters-hippocrates-was.html

..

Multi-Media Filter, Highly-Activated Carbon Filter,

Zeolite-Process Water Softener With Brine Tank,

Fiberglass Ballast-Type Pressure Tank

(fully automatic backwash & regeneration)

PURICARE 

INDUSTRIAL 

ENTERPRISES 

Water 

Treatment 

Systems

.

.

...

Aganan, Pavia, Iloilo, Philippines

...

CLICK HERE . . . to view company profile . . .

http://puricare.blogspot.com/p/company-profile.html

FIRSTANK Polyethelene Tanks

FIRSTANK STAINLESS TANKVertical Type

Houston Water Pump withMazaki Automatic Pump Controller

ENGINE POWER LOSS - If your car loses power when you put the pedal to the metal, odds are good that a fuel system malfunction is preventing your engine from drawing the extra go-juice it needs to accelerate. You could be looking at a clogged injector, leaking fuel line, gummed-up filter or kaput fuel pump. A fuel injector sprays fuel into the cylinder, where it mixes with air and ignites during compression, generating the explosion that drives the piston. The fuel pump does the pushing, and the filter keeps out impurities.

....
Engine Power Loss

5 Signs Your Engine Is Losing Power

BY NICHOLAS GERBIS

Do you have the sinking feeling that the horses under your hood have turned into ponies?

Does your four-banger feel more like a three-and-a-half-banger these days? If so, you might have a power problem.

Back when carburetors were king and fuel pumps were mechanical, power loss usually came down to vapor lock or a clogged fuel filter [source: Goms].

Today's intricate fuel systems have largely conquered the former if not the latter. Even so, all that complexity brings with it a slew of potential failure points.

The same goes for the car's air intake and exhaust systems, particularly since catalytic converters became standard equipment in the late 1970s [source: Newman].

In many ways, though, the old rules still apply. Like your own body, every car needs fuel to burn and air to breathe. Your vehicle doesn't like running in high altitudes with a potato crammed up its tailpipe any more than you would (but, hey, to each his own).

If only nailing down the causes of power loss were as simple as a tuber in the tailpipe, we wouldn't make such a hash out of diagnosing them.

But identifying a power problem can try the patience of a saint, and doubly so when the drop in oomph occurs intermittently, virtually guaranteeing that your mechanic won't be able to reproduce it.

Thankfully, there are some clear signs to look for.

5 The Old Lead Foot, Dead Foot

If your car loses power when you put the pedal to the metal, odds are good that a fuel system malfunction is preventing your engine from drawing the extra go-juice it needs to accelerate.

You could be looking at a clogged injector, leaking fuel line, gummed-up filter or kaput fuel pump [source: Salem].

A fuel injector sprays fuel into the cylinder, where it mixes with air and ignites during compression, generating the explosion that drives the piston.

The fuel line is simply a hose or pipe that carries fuel from the tank to the engine. The fuel pump does the pushing, and the filter keeps out impurities.

With the necessary knack and the proper tools, you can replace a fuel line yourself, but other problems might take a bit more effort and equipment.

Before 2006, fuel filters were do-it-yourselv jobs, but manufacturers are increasingly placing their filters inside of their vehicle's fuel tanks [source: AGCO].

Whatever you decide, remember that fuel punishes those who take it lightly. Make sure you have the right diagnosis, tools and know-how before diving in.

4 Sending Up Smoke Signals

A backfiring or smoking exhaust can indicate either too much fuel or too little spark, both of which can bring about power loss.

A backfire occurs when the fuel-air mixture does not fully ignite in the combustion chamber, but instead pops off elsewhere in the system. Both fuel-air ratio problems and electrical issues can trigger firing foul-ups [sources: Bosch; Salem].

Spark plugs covered with engine oil, ash or other deposits will misfire, as will plugs with partially melted electrodes.

Black smoke from your tailpipe might point to spark problems, which can damage your engine, so check them as soon as possible [sources: Bosch; Salem].

Black smoke could also mean that your fuel-air mixture is too gasoline-rich. Time for an adjustment. And if you pop the hood and your engine reeks excessively of eau de Esso, do not try to start it. It's time for a tow [sources: Salem; Sclar].

Conversely, backfiring without black smoke could indicate too little fuel in the mix [source: Salem].

We'll discuss that, too.

3 Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On

While idling at a stop light, does your engine tremble harder than a San Andreas paint mixer?

Does it send tremors through the steering wheel or into the rest of the vehicle, resulting in a noticeable loss of power? If so, misfiring cylinders could be to blame -- again [sources: B&B; O'Reilly].

If a misfire is your culprit, other signs will soon present themselves. These might include trouble starting, stalling during idle (especially if accessories like the air conditioning, headlights and/or defroster are running) and bad gas mileage. The hydrocarbons choking your exhaust could also botch your annual emissions test [sources: B&B; O'Reilly].

Engines typically misfire for three reasons: spark loss, lost compression or a way-out-of-whack air-to-fuel ratio.

Bad spark plugs, fouled-up plug wires or a cracked distributor cap can cause spark loss, while compression loss -- in which too much of the air-fuel mixture flees a cylinder before going bang -- commonly arises from a leaky exhaust valve or a blown head gasket [sources: B&B; O'Reilly].

An air-fuel mix that is too thin to burn could mean a gunked-up fuel injector, an air leak, a weak fuel pump, a choked-off filter or a compromised pressure regulator. It's also possible, though less common, for the mix to be too rich (which we mentioned before), but this will tend to affect all the cylinders, not just one [sources: B&B; O'Reilly].

A diagnostic scanner can pick out the misbehaving cylinder, but that's just the first step in figuring out what's wrong [source: O'Reilly].

Once you've narrowed down the problem, decide if it's something you feel comfortable tackling yourself.

2 Disagreeably Inclined

Does your vehicle cut out or struggle up an incline? Such behavior often signifies a clogged fuel filter.

As the filter eliminates gunk from your fuel, it grows gradually dirty, and the fuel pump must work harder to shove fuel through it.

In high-demand circumstances, such as driving up a hill or putting the hammer down, it might not be able to deliver enough gas to get the job done. Get your car checked out with a fuel pressure test or digital scope [sources: AGCO; Big O].

Don't just replace the filter -- take a closer look at what's blocking it up, just in case the clog is a symptom of another issue, such as fuel contamination or a buildup of rust in the tank [source: AGCO].

1 Hey, Look at All the Pretty Lights ...

A number of the power loss-related problems we just listed will cause your malfunction indicator lamp, aka the check engine light, to switch on. Heed it.

Many of the issues it detects relate to power loss -- including problems with the catalytic converter, the mass airflow sensor, the O₂ sensor or the spark plug wires. More important, small problems often hint at larger ones [sources: Consumer Reports; Reed].

In addition to the glitches already cited, your car's MIL could point to a bad positive crankcase ventilation valve. The PCV valve is part of your emissions control system.

When it sticks open, too much air pours into your engine; when contaminants gum it up, your engine suffocates. Fortunately, the valve is fairly easy to clean or replace [source: Sclar].

If you're working on a 1996 model vehicle or later, you can buy a cheap trouble code reader that will tell you what the MIL means, possibly saving you a trip to the mechanic -- or at least arming you with more data before you haul in your vehicle [sources: Consumer Reports; Reed].

Lastly, if none of these five signs are occurring for you but you're certain you're losing power, check your catalytic converter.

Although most converters are designed to last a vehicle's lifetime, they can eventually fail or plug up, suffocating the engine by preventing fouled air from being expelled through the exhaust [sources: Salem; Sclar].

Author's Note: 5 Signs Your Engine Is Losing Power

Power loss in a car is a dismal experience.

For the sentimental, it feels like a trusty horse or boon companion is knocking at death's door; for everyone else, it produces a pang in the pocketbook -- at least until it's diagnosed.

That's the thing about power loss: It could point to some minor, easily fixed issue, or it could stem from a real whopper of a problem. Hopefully, the information in this article will help you separate one from the other.

Nicholas Gerbis, Contributing Writer
Nicholas Gerbis is an independent science journalist, editor and teacher. He earned his Master of Science degree in geography (climatology) from University of Delaware and a Master of Mass Communication degree (journalism) from the Walter Cronkite School at Arizona State University. He is currently an adjunct professor at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where he teaches courses on science history and science fiction.

https://auto.howstuffworks.com/under-the-hood/diagnosing-car-problems/mechanical/5-signs-your-engine-is-losing-power.htm 

ACID RAIN - Acid rain, also known as acid deposition, is caused by emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) from power plants, cars and factories. Natural sources like volcanoes, forest fires and lightning strikes also add to the man-made pollution. SO2 and NOx become acids when they enter the atmosphere and react with water vapor. The resulting sulfuric and nitric acids can fall as wet or dry depositions. Wet deposition is precipitation: acid rain, snow, sleet or fog. Dry deposition falls as acidic particulates or gases.

.

Emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides react with water vapor
 in the atmosphere to create sulfuric and nitric acids.

Acid Rain

How Acid Rain Works

BY SARAH DOWDEY

If you hike through the Appalachian Mountains, you'll spot stands of dead and weakened trees.

If you live in a city, you might notice worn stone buildings, streaks on your car roof or corroded metal railings and statues.

You can see the effects of acid rain nearly everywhere you go, but with media and public attention turned to the more ominous prospect of global warming, acid rain has fallen by the wayside.

The scourge from the sky almost seems like a 20th-century problem -- an issue dealt with in the 1980s and 1990s by legislation.

Acid rain occurs mostly in the Northern Hemisphere -- the more industrialized, dirtier half of the globe.

Winds can sweep up emissions from high smokestacks and carry pollutants far from their original sources, crossing state lines and national borders in the process.

Acid rain may not have the complete global range of greenhouse gases, but it is a transboundary, and therefore international, issue.

Acid rain, also known as acid deposition, is caused by emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) from power plants, cars and factories.

Natural sources like volcanoes, forest fires and lightning strikes also add to the man-made pollution.

SO2 and NOx become acids when they enter the atmosphere and react with water vapor.

The resulting sulfuric and nitric acids can fall as wet or dry depositions.

Wet deposition is precipitation: acid rain, snow, sleet or fog. Dry deposition falls as acidic particulates or gases.

The pH of Acid Rain

Scientists express the acidity of acid rain using the pH scale.

The scale defines a solution's acidity, neutrality or alkalinity based on its concentration of hydrogen ions.

The pH scale is a measure of acidity and alkalinity. Acid rain has a pH of 5.0 or less.

Acids have a high concentration of hydrogen ions and a low pH. The scale ranges from zero to 14, with pure water at a neutral 7.0.

Most water, however, is not exactly pure. Even clean, normal rain has a pH of about 5.6. This is because it reacts with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and forms mildly acidic carbonic acid before it becomes rain.

Acid rain has a pH of 5.0 or less. Most acid deposition ranges from pH 4.3 to 5.0 -- somewhere between the acidity of orange juice and black coffee.

But comparing acid rain to safe, natural acids can be misleading. Even at its weakest, acid rain wrecks ecosystems by stunting sensitive plants and killing delicate aquatic eggs.

Programs that monitor acid rain analyze hydrogen content to determine pH. They also measure atmospheric concentrations of nitric acid, nitrate, sulfur dioxide, sulfate and ammonium.

In the United States, the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) supervises wet deposition while the Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET) observes dry deposition.

Monitoring acid deposition helps determine critical loads, or the amount of pollutants an ecosystem can support before damage. Accurate critical loads help set effective targets for SO2 and NOx reductions.

Now we'll learn about the harmful effects of acid rain on aquatic environments, forests, finishes, building materials and human health.

Surface Waters

Surface waters and their fragile ecosystems are perhaps the most famous victims of acid rain.

Acid deposition weakens trees and pollutes surface waters.

Most of the precipitation that enters a lake, river, stream or marsh must first pass over and seep through soil.

All soil has a buffering capacity, or ability to resist changes in acidity and alkalinity.

The soil's buffering capacity determines a water body's acidity. If the capacity is low, or has reached its limit, acid rain can pass through un-neutralized.

Most life is comfortable at a near-neutral pH -- stray too far from pH 7.0, and delicate organisms begin to die. Plankton and invertebrates are sensitive to changes in acidity and die first.

At pH 5.0, fish eggs degrade and young cannot develop.

Adult fish and frogs can sometimes tolerate acidities as low as pH 4.0, but they starve as their weaker food sources die out. When acid rain disrupts the food chain, biodiversity decreases.

Nitrogen deposition from acid rain also damages coastal waters and estuaries. Nitrogen-rich water supports massive algae growth ­ and algal blooms.

Bacteria decompose the dead algae, flourish themselves and soak up the water's available oxygen.

Fish, shellfish, sea grass beds and coral reefs die in the algae-choked, oxygen-depleted waters.

Scientists estimate that 10 percent to 45 percent of human-produced nitrogen that winds up in coastal waters comes from atmospheric deposition [Source: Environmental Protection Agency].

Most acidic bodies of water do not look polluted. As decaying organic matter settles, acidified water can appear clear and blue. Some species, like rushes and moss, even thrive in acidic conditions.

But the greenery and clear waters belie an unwholesome environment. Diversity drops, and species left without predators often grow disturbingly large.

The Effects of Acid Rain

Forests rely on their soil's buffering capacity to protect them from acid rain.

Acidic waters draw out soil toxins like aluminum. Trees take in the poisonous substances, and runoff dumps it in lakes, rivers and streams.

Acid rain can eat through stone and metal. It has acceleratedthe natural weathering process of this scarred stone angel's face.

Acid rain also dissolves helpful minerals and nutrients like calcium, magnesium and potassium before trees can absorb them.

Acid rain rarely kills a forest outright but instead stunts its growth through years of soil degradation.

Nutrient deprivation and exposure to toxins make trees more likely to topple in storms or die in cold weather.

Even trees in well-buffered soil can weaken in harsh acid fog. High-elevation forests soak in acidic clouds, which strip leaves of nutrients and break down trees' ability to resist cold.

The bald peaks of the Appalachian Mountains tell of the poisonous effect of acid rain on high-elevation forests.

Materials and Finishes

Acid rain has the unsettling ability to erase and obliterate stone and metal, the most durable of materials.

Old buildings, monuments and tombstones bear the smooth signs of acidic corrosion and deterioration. Acid deposition speeds up natural weathering caused by rain, sun, snow and wind.

Acid rain also mars automotive paint. The auto industry considers acid deposition one type of corrosive environmental fallout, along with tree sap, pollen and bird droppings.

Acid markings leave irregular, etched shapes on horizontal surfaces. Repainting is the only way to fix a car finish disfigured by acid rain.

Reducing Acid Rain

Acid rain has existed since the first factories of the Industrial Revolution began spitting out toxic emissions.

Power plants must limit emissions of SO and NOx
to meet targets set by the Acid Rain Program.

An English scientist, Robert Angus Smith, coined the term "acid rain" in 1872 when he wrote of its corroding touch on buildings and deadly effect on plants.

But acid rain did not become a government-monitored environmental problem until more than a century later.

Scientists had by then determined that acid rain was a transboundary rather than a local concern.

In 1980, the Acid Deposition Act launched a 10-year study on acid rain under the direction of the National Acidic Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP) to monitor sites around the country.

In 1990, armed with the NAPAP's study, Congress changed the existing Clean Air Act to include acid rain.

The new Title IV amendment of the Clean Air Act called for SO2 and NOx reductions.

The Acid Rain Program (ARP) was formed in 1995 to bring Title IV into effect.

The ARP places limits on the power industry to reduce annual emissions of SO2 and NOx.

The ARP uses a cap and trade program to cut SO2 emissions. It sets a cap on the total amount of SO2 that power plants in the contiguous United States can produce.

After setting a cap, the ARP distributes allowances to power plant units. Units are only allowed to produce as much SO2 as they have credit for.

If they reduce emissions faster than the ARP requires, they can bank allowances for future use or sell them to other plants. The final 2010 cap will be 8.95 million tons allowed per year, a remarkable 50 percent less than power plant emissions from 1980 [Source: EPA].

The ARP regulates NOx reductions with a more conventional rate-based regulatory system. The program sets a limit on allowable pounds of NOx per million British thermal units (lb/mmBtu) for every power plant's boiler.

Owners either meet target reductions for individual boilers or average the emissions of all units owned and meet a combined target. The ARP aims to reduce NOx to 2 million tons below the projected 2000 level had Title IV not existed [Source: EPA].

Power plants meet their ARP targets by using low sulfur coal, "wet scrubbers" or flue gas desulphurization systems, low NOx burners and other clean coal technologies. They can also trade SO2 credits amongst themselves.

Even with an increased energy demand, the ARP has successfully reduced emissions of SO2 and NOx.

But NAPAP suggests that for ecosystems to fully recover, reductions will have to drop an additional 40 percent to 80 percent below the full-force limits of 2010 [Source: EPA].

Cars also emit NOx. Newer designs of catalytic converters help treat exhaust and remove NOx and other pollutants like carbon monoxide and the VOCs that contribute to smog.

Even with remarkable clean coal technologies, catalytic converters and strong caps and regulations, fossil fuels are still a dirty power source.

Alternative forms of energy like nuclear, solear and hydropower do not emit the millions of tons of SO2 and NOx­ that upend ecosystems, blight buildings and monuments and weaken people's health.

Sarah Dowdey, Contributing Editor 
Sarah Dowdey holds a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Georgia.

https://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/atmospheric/acid-rain.htm