page_title: Eifel Aqueduct
section_title: Roman demands for water quality
hierarchical_section_title: Eifel Aqueduct / Roman demands for water quality
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Von Sinter zugesetzte Eifelwasserleitung bei Euskirchen-Kreuzweingarten English: View into the remains of the Eifel aqueduct near Euskirchen-Kreuzweingarten, Germany, showing heavy accretions of lime on the conduit walls.
context_page_description: The Eifel Aqueduct was one of the longest aqueducts of the Roman Empire.
  The aqueduct, constructed in AD 80, carried water some 95 kilometres from the hilly Eifel region of what is now Germany to the ancient city of Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium. If the auxiliary spurs to additional springs are included, the length was 130 kilometres. The construction was almost entirely below ground, and the flow of the water was produced entirely by gravity. A few bridges, including one up to 1,400 metres in length, were needed to pass over valleys. Unlike some of the other famous Roman aqueducts, the Eifel aqueduct was specifically designed to minimize the above-ground portion to protect it from damage and freezing.
context_section_description: Romans preferred drinking water with a high mineral content, preferring its taste to that of soft water. Roman architect Vitruvius described the process for testing a source of drinking water:
  Springs should be tested and proved in advance in the following ways. If they run free and open, inspect and observe the physique of the people who dwell in the vicinity before beginning to conduct the water, and if their frames are strong, their complexions fresh, legs sound, and eyes clear, the springs deserve complete approval. If it is a spring just dug out, its water is excellent if it can be sprinkled into a Corinthian vase or into any other sort made of good bronze without leaving a spot on it. Again, if such water is boiled in a bronze cauldron, afterwards left for a time, and then poured off without sand or mud being found at the bottom of the cauldron, that water also will have proved its excellence.
  Vitruvius insisted, "Consequently we must take great care and pains in searching for springs and selecting them, keeping in view the health of mankind." The water from the Eifel aqueduct was considered to be some of the very best water in the empire.
  Unfortunately, hard water tends to produce calcium carbonate deposits, and all areas of the aqueduct today have a thick layer of limestone-like deposits up to 20 centimetres (7.9 in) thick. Despite the reduction in the cross-sectional area of the aqueduct caused by these deposits, the aqueduct was still able to provide the necessary quantity of water for Cologne. In the Middle Ages, the layer of "Eifel marble" from the aqueduct was widely reused as building material.
caption: This portion of the aqueduct at Euskirchen Kreuzweingarten shows the calcium carbonate accretion on the sides of the channel.
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