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When I was in Koblenz a few weeks ago I went and visited the site of an underground Roman aqueduct. It was designed to collect groundwater and transport it to a Roman villa near the location of the present town of Brey on the Rhine. The tunnel first discovered after WWII and roughly 1600M has been discovered. Local archaeologists guess it dates from the late 3rd or early 4th centuries. I thought the site was cool but what I found even more impressive is that water still runs through it and the local municipality has hoked onto the end and uses the water because it is purer than what they get from either the rhein or the local wells. Apparently the natural filtration the water gets moving through the local stone is better than what they get from the aquifer. It was a pretty good hump through the woods to get to the excavated part but worth the walk and the weather was good that day.[attachment=1]The info tablet near the excavated portion[attachment=2]View into the excavated portion[attachment=3]View downhill along the course of the aqueduct. Notice the opening in the trees along the line of the aqueduct in the center of the picture.
I had never heard of any Roman aqueducts designed to collect groundwater (make more sense if this was “in addition to” water from another source). Still, it is cool that the water coming out of it is so pure. I wonder if this is a natural effect of the age of the aqueduct; in other words, would the water have been so pure in the third or fourth centuries?
From the information on the tables the mixed tufa and limestone of the local geology purifies the water. The aqueduct essentially acts as a focused seep for most of it's length. It was very specific that the aqueduct is not connected to a spring but naturally occurring groundwater seeps in and then flows downhill through the pipe. Apparently the volume of water is not huge but enough to supply one domus and outbuildings.
I thought it was pretty cool myself. I just happened to see the sign as my wife and I were driving past and decided to check it out. I had to drive through the village and up a goat trail to get to the parking area and then it was another 400m or so to the head of the aqueduct.
What is that aqueduc doing in such a remote area? How far was the Roman settlement from it? It should have been something more important than a simple villa?
Koblenz was a major administrative town for the Romans and the aqueduct is only about 5km outside of town. I guess the owner of the villa thought it worthwhile to build such a structure. The villa was not in a remote area at all and was right on the river.
