Rome had 11 major aqueducts by the 3rd century AD, collectively delivering approximately 1 million cubic metres of water per day to a city of approximately 1 million people -- roughly 1,000 litres per person per day, more than modern London or New York supplies. The Roman aqueduct system was the most ambitious civil engineering programme in the ancient world; it required the maintenance of approximately 800 km of channels, tunnels, bridges, and distribution infrastructure. Three ancient Roman aqueducts supply Rome today in modified form: the Aqua Marcia (built 144 BC, still supplying Rome through its modern successor the Peschiera-Capore aqueduct); the Aqua Claudia; and most famously the Aqua Virgo (built 19 BC by Agrippa), whose water still flows through a near-continuous tunnel from its source at Le Colonnelle (20 km east of Rome near Salone) to emerge at the Trevi Fountain -- 2,045 years of uninterrupted service from a single Roman aqueduct. Rome guide
Plan my Italy trip →Rome's 11 ancient aqueducts: Built 312 BC (Aqua Appia) to 226 AD (Aqua Alexandrina) | Combined ancient daily flow: ~1 million m3/day | Still supplying Rome (modified): Aqua Virgo (19 BC), Aqua Marcia successor | Trevi Fountain source: Aqua Virgo, 20 km northeast | Nasoni drinking fountains: ~2,500 throughout Rome, free, always running
The Aqua Virgo (Virgin Water) was built in 19 BC by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa -- Augustus's general and son-in-law, the engineer-administrator who transformed Rome's water infrastructure in the Augustan period. The aqueduct draws from springs at Le Colonnelle (the principal source), approximately 20 km east of Rome near the Salone locality. The spring was legendarily identified by a virgin girl (the virgo of the name) who showed the Roman soldiers the location -- one of the more charming founding myths of the Roman hydraulic engineering tradition. The channel: the Aqua Virgo runs almost entirely underground through tunnels (unlike the dramatic arch sequences of the Aqua Claudia and Aqua Marcia in the Campagna Romana) from its source to Rome, a decision that protected it from sabotage (the Goths cut the above-ground aqueducts in 537 AD when besieging Rome, devastating the city's water supply; the underground Aqua Virgo was more difficult to sever). The modern continuation: the original Roman channel tunnel still exists and carries water; the modern water authority (ACEA) has cleaned, reinforced, and connected it to a modern distribution system, but the water source and the channel alignment are continuous from Agrippa's construction. The water reaches the Trevi Fountain basin via a mechanism essentially unchanged from the Roman delivery system; the fountain's water has been drawn from the Aqua Virgo source continuously for 2,045 years.
Rome has approximately 2,500 nasoni (little noses -- named for the slightly downward-curved spout shaped like a nose) distributed throughout the city, delivering fresh spring water from the Roman aqueduct system continuously and free to anyone who wants it. The nasoni were installed from 1874 onward as part of a municipal water access programme; they replaced earlier cisterns and paid water carriers in Roman neighbourhoods. The specific design: a cast-iron post approximately 1 metre tall with a continuously running water spout that can be drunk directly or cupped with a hand; blocking the lower hole with a thumb causes the water to jet upward from the top hole for easier drinking. The water quality: Rome's tap water (and nasoni water) is spring water from the Apennine mountains, filtered through ancient volcanic rock aquifer systems and delivered at a quality equivalent to or exceeding most commercial mineral waters. The ACEA water authority conducts 90,000 quality tests per year on the Rome system. The nasoni are the single most sustainable and convenient water source for visitors in Rome -- filling a refillable bottle from a nasoni eliminates the need for commercial bottled water throughout your Rome visit.
Three ancient Roman aqueducts supply Rome today in modified form: the Aqua Virgo (19 BC, built by Agrippa) still delivers water to Rome including the Trevi Fountain, using the original spring source and much of the original underground tunnel; the Aqua Marcia (144 BC) continues in modified form through its modern successor the Peschiera-Capore aqueduct; and parts of other ancient channels are incorporated in the modern distribution system. The Aqua Virgo has supplied water continuously for 2,045 years -- the most durable engineering system in continuous operational use in the world.
The Trevi Fountain is supplied by the Aqua Virgo, the Roman aqueduct built in 19 BC by Marcus Agrippa. The spring source is at Le Colonnelle near Salone, approximately 20 km northeast of Rome; the water travels through an underground tunnel (largely the original Roman channel, maintained and reinforced by ACEA, Rome's water authority) to emerge at the Trevi Fountain basin. The Aqua Virgo was one of the few Roman aqueducts not severed by the Gothic siege of 537 AD (its underground route protected it) and has delivered water to Rome continuously for 2,045 years. The Trevi Fountain's current Baroque structure (Nicola Salvi, 1762) replaced earlier terminal fountain structures on the same water delivery point.
The nasoni (little noses) are Rome's approximately 2,500 public drinking fountains -- cast-iron posts with a continuously running curved spout, distributing free spring water from the Roman aqueduct system throughout the city. Installed from 1874 onward; named for the downward-curved spout shape. The water quality: ACEA spring water, 90,000 annual quality tests, equivalent to or exceeding commercial mineral water. The nasoni are the most convenient water source for Rome visitors: refill a bottle at any nasoni rather than buying plastic water bottles. The blocking technique: press a finger over the lower drainhole; the water jets upward from the spout top for easier filling.
Best surviving Roman aqueduct arch sequences near Rome: the Parco degli Acquedotti (Aqueduct Park, accessible by Metro A to Giulio Agricola, 20 minutes from the centre) -- a public park in the southeastern suburbs containing the most impressive surviving aqueduct arch sequences in the immediate Rome area, with parallel runs of the Aqua Claudia (38-52 AD, the tallest arches, approximately 28 metres) and the Aqua Marcia/Tepula/Iulia superimposed channels; free entry, always open. The Via Appia Antica Archaeological Park also has scattered arch fragments. The Porta Maggiore (city gate where the Aqua Claudia and Aqua Anio Novus entered the city) in Piazza di Porta Maggiore is the most architecturally spectacular single surviving aqueduct monument in Rome -- the double archway with the original construction inscription is free to view from the piazza.
Aqua Virgo Trevi Fountain source + Parco degli Acquedotti arches + Porta Maggiore + nasoni free water -- the complete Roman water system circuit.
Plan my Rome engineering tour →The Parco degli Acquedotti (Aqueduct Park) in the southeastern Rome suburbs (accessible by Metro A, Giulio Agricola stop) is a public park containing the most impressive surviving Roman aqueduct arch sequences in the Rome area. The park preserves parallel runs of multiple ancient aqueducts in the same landscape: the Aqua Claudia (38-52 AD, Emperor Claudius -- the tallest arches, approximately 28 metres, the most visually dramatic); the Aqua Anio Novus (superimposed on the Claudia channel, built by Caligula and Claudius); the Aqua Marcia (144 BC, the oldest surviving arches in the park); and the Aqua Tepula and Aqua Iulia channels. The park is free, always open, and popular with Roman families for picnics and jogging -- the combination of the ancient arches, the umbrella pine landscape, and the Castelli Romani hills visible in the distance is one of the most atmospheric archaeological landscapes within easy reach of central Rome.
The Roman aqueducts required continuous maintenance -- a specialised workforce (the aquarii or aquatores) maintained approximately 800 km of aqueduct channels, tunnels, bridges, and distribution infrastructure serving Rome. The primary maintenance challenges: sedimentation (calcium carbonate deposits from the spring water progressively narrowed the channel; the Aqua Virgo tunnel sections show deposits of 20-30 cm of calcium carbonate built up over 2,000 years of operation); structural failure of the arch sequences during seismic events; and deliberate sabotage (the Goths cut the major above-ground aqueducts in 537 AD during the siege of Rome, immediately reducing the city's water supply to the underground Aqua Virgo alone and contributing to the city's demographic collapse from approximately 800,000 to approximately 20,000 in the decades following). The Frontinus treatise 'De Aquaeductu' (97-98 AD) documents the Roman aqueduct administration system and remains the primary historical source for the technical and administrative details.
Yes -- Rome's tap water (including the nasoni street fountains) is spring water from the Apennine mountains, delivered through the successor systems to the ancient aqueducts, tested approximately 90,000 times per year by ACEA (the Rome water authority), and of quality equivalent to or exceeding commercial mineral water. The specific mineral composition: Rome water is moderately hard (calcium and magnesium bicarbonate from the limestone aquifer systems) with a clean, neutral taste that most visitors describe as pleasant. The nasoni street fountains (approximately 2,500 throughout Rome) deliver the same spring water from the same systems, free and continuously. Filling a 750ml reusable bottle from a nasoni is the most sustainable and economical hydration strategy in Rome; no commercial bottled water purchase is needed for any visitor.
The best surviving Roman aqueduct remains outside Rome: the Pont du Gard (near Nimes, southern France -- the most complete Roman aqueduct bridge surviving, 49 metres tall, 3 levels of arches, still intact after 2,000 years; technically outside Italy but the finest single aqueduct structure in the Roman world); the Aqua Augusta at the Piscina Mirabilis (Bacoli, near Naples -- the terminal reservoir of the Aqua Augusta, the largest freshwater reservoir in the ancient Mediterranean, approximately 72 metres long and 15 metres tall internally, carved from tufa rock; free entry with local guide booking); the Roman aqueduct at Segovia (Spain -- 167 metres long, 28 metres tall, intact above-ground section in the city centre; technically outside Italy but the finest Roman aqueduct arch sequence still standing); and the Pont d'Aël (Aosta Valley -- a small Roman aqueduct bridge from approximately 3 BC, with a service walkway inside the arch structure still accessible by guided tour).
The fall of the Western Roman Empire (476 AD) and the subsequent barbarian sieges and sacks severely damaged Rome's water infrastructure. The critical event: during the Gothic siege of Rome (537-538 AD), the Ostrogoth king Vitigis cut the above-ground aqueduct channels supplying the city. The Aqua Virgo (underground through its entire course) survived; the Aqua Traiana (supplying the Trastevere mills) was partially maintained for the papal mills on the Gianicolo. The demographic consequence: Rome's population fell from approximately 800,000-1,000,000 at the height of the Empire to approximately 20,000-30,000 in the 7th-8th centuries -- a decline directly connected to the loss of the water infrastructure that had made the city habitable at urban scale. The revival of Rome's water supply began in the 15th-16th centuries when successive popes restored the Aqua Virgo (renamed Acqua Vergine) and the Aqua Alexandrina.
The Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi, 1762, by Nicola Salvi) is the terminal fountain (mostra) of the Aqua Virgo aqueduct -- the monumental display structure that marked the aqueduct's arrival in the city and provided public water. The "wrong direction" observation: the fountain faces west, into the Piazza di Trevi, rather than east toward the aqueduct source. This is not a mistake -- the mostra was designed to face the approaching water distribution piazza (the end-user direction) rather than the source direction. The Neptune figure at the centre rides a shell chariot pulled by seahorses; the two winged figures represent the rough sea (left) and the calm sea (right). Tradition: throwing a coin over the left shoulder into the fountain guarantees return to Rome; two coins guarantee love; three coins guarantee marriage. Approximately EUR 1.4 million in coins are thrown into the Trevi Fountain each year; the coins are collected and donated to Caritas Rome for social services.