Page 10 - Urban water supply handbook

URBAN WATER INFRASTRUCTURE: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

URBAN WATER INFRASTRUCTURE 1.9

FIGURE 1.3 Functional components of a modern-day water utility. (Cullinane, 1989)

in Scottsdale, Arizona. In contrast Fig. 1.7 shows a Roman aqueduct bridge
located in Izmir, Turkey.

1.2 ROMAN PREDECESSORS

1.2.1 The Minoans

Knossos, located approximately 5 kilometers (km) from Herakleion, the modern
capital of Crete, was one of the most ancient and most unique cities of the Aegean
region and Europe. Knossos was first inhabited shortly after 6000 B.C., and within
3000 years it had become the largest neolithic (circa 5700–28 B.C.) settlement in
the Aegean world. During the bronze age (circa 2800–1100 B.C.) the Minoan civ-
ilization developed and reached its culmination as the first Greek cultural miracle
of the Aegean world. During the neopalatial period (1700–1400 B.C.), Knossos
was at the height of its splendor. The city extended over an area of 75,000 to
2
125,000 square meters (m ) and had an estimated population in the order of tens
of thousands of inhabitants. The water supply system at Knossos was most inter-
esting. An aqueduct supplied water through tubular conduits from the Knunavoi
and Archanes regions and branched out into the city and the palace. Figure 1.8
shows the type of pressure conduits used within the palace for water distribution.

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