How does a drinking water aqueduct work?
Aqueduct openings can
be in a stream, reservoir, or large area with water. Water
moves downhill by gravity so that some aqueducts start higher up than
where the water is going. When the land is flat and the water can't
move downhill, pumps are used to push the water through the
aqueduct. There are two kinds of aqueducts: the
above-ground and the underground kinds.
Above-ground aqueducts
sometimes look like bridges. The water in this kind of aqueduct
might be out in the open [surface water] or be inside a tunnel-like
pipe. Surface water aqueducts need water treatment since all
of the things [twigs, animal droppings, dirt] that fall into it need to be
taken out.
What is an underground aqueduct like?
Many aqueducts
are actually miles and miles of pipes or canals that link two places with
each other. These tunnels can be made of stone, brick, wood,
or metal. Underground aqueducts don't need as much water
treatment because they are closed up and things like leaves, and animal
droppings can't get into it. We visited the Old Croton aqueduct and
took some interesting pictures. This aqueduct is 38 miles long and took
water from the Croton River to New York City.
Both above-ground and underground aqueducts have gates
and valves to control how much water goes through.
