In early Pompeii, water had to be drawn with great effort – so it was rarely changed in bathing establishments. Only an innovation made hygiene improve
According to recent findings, the water quality in the baths of ancient Pompeii was not particularly good – at least in the city’s early phase. Until shortly before the birth of Christ, the bathing water came from wells, had to be laboriously pumped up with the help of slaves and was therefore replaced comparatively rarely. This only improved in the late 1st century BC, as a research team led by Gül Sürmelihindi from the University of Mainz reported in the journal “Proceedings” of the US National Academy of Sciences (“PNAS”).
The team analyzed remains of the water supply system of the city near Naples, founded in the 6th century BC, which was buried during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 and thus preserved in its original condition. The scientists focused on the composition of deposits at various points in the water system. In this way, they reconstructed how Pompeii’s water supply and quality changed over time.
Slaves pumped water using treadwheels and hoisting machines
According to this, people initially got their water from wells up to 40 meters deep. The analysis of carbon isotopes – that is, carbon atoms with different masses – in the deposits showed that the water in the city’s public bathing facilities, which were built around 130 BC, initially did not meet the high hygiene standards usually attributed to the Romans.
The deposits contained organic impurities, explained first author Sürmelihindi – which indicates contamination from sweat, sebum and urine. The water was probably only changed about once a day. That is not surprising. “Eventually the baths were supplied with a water lifting machine that was driven by slaves using a kind of pedal wheel.”
Only later, according to the analysis, did the city show technological improvements in water supply. In the late first century BC the baths were probably connected to the Serino aqueduct. This above-ground, 145-kilometer-long network of pipes made much more water available from the surrounding area and enabled more frequent exchange in the baths.
And according to the university’s scientists, they were able to glean something else from the carbonate deposits: they found peculiar cyclical, i.e. circular, patterns. Mainz co-author Cees Passchier attributes this to a fluctuating amount of volcanic carbon dioxide in the groundwater. This could have been the result of Vesuvius’ activity long before its eruption buried the city in ash.
dpa
