It has been shown that the aqueduct carried a water flow rate of 0.5 m3/s or 43.2 X 103 m3/day. Nowadays, there is an open question about the water consumption in Roman cities. Daily consumptions between 200 and 500 l per capita are reported (Chanson, 2002; Viviers and Vokaer, 2009). According to these values, 43X103 m3 of water per day could fulfilled the needs of a population between 90 and 220 thousand people.
It is estimated that, during the 6th century, the number of inhabitants of Apamea was between 100 and 200 thousand people (Viviers and Vokaer, 2009). Therefore, the evaluated flow rate delivered by the aqueduct is a new element that leads to think that the aqueduct was the only water supply system of the town.
This new element strengthens the affirmation, made by some authors (Viviers and Vokaer, 2009), that the site topography would have made difficult the building of another water adduction, as it should have been weaker because of the necessity of crossing the wadi or the Ghab valley.
At the beginning of the use of the aqueduct, the water was in contact with a smooth water repellent coating made of mortar. The water level in the aqueduct was 66 cm height. As soon as a calcareous deposit was formed, the roughness of the surface increased and hence, the level of water in the aqueduct rose. It finally stabilized at 92 cm, only a few centimetres below the covering blocks. This observation could lead us to think that the Romans had foreseen this elevation of water height at least qualitatively and maybe even quantitatively.
World History
