Evolution of Plumbing
Ever since ancient times there has been a need for plumbing. Excavating a deep well to extract water from an underground stream was one of the first examples. Water had to be transported in urns because pipework had not yet developed. The quest for providing growing towns with a convenient water supply began in earnest on the isle of Samos in 530 BC when Epaulinus, a Greek engineer constructed a tunnel with a length of 1.6km and a diameter of 2.4 metres to channel water from nearby mountains. In 300 BC the Egyptian city of Alexandria had a pumped, suction lift water supply that was primarily used for fire-fighting.