Evolution of water wells focusing on Balkan and Asian civilizations

Abstract

The provision of water has been a major enterprise in human history. Groundwater was one of the first sources since the prehistoric times to cover human needs. Initially, the exploitation of groundwater has been made by shallow wells and later by boreholes. A water well is constructed through excavation in the ground by digging, driving, boring, or drilling to access groundwater in aquifers. Groundwater wells were used in the Helladic world since Neolithic times. Ancient China developed a sophisticated tool for drilling water wells that is similar to modern machines. Qanat, a system of wells, originated in Iran (Persia), but was adopted by other countries. Moreover, the Indus valley civilization had well-constructed wells mainly for drinking purposes. The construction of wells varied according to local conditions, determined by geology, hydrogeology, and morphology, as well as by local tradition. Furthermore, a well was not just a water source but also became a cultural symbol throughout history, related to local religion and custom. The stepwells in India became not only sources of drinking water, but also holy places (sanctuaries) for bathing, meditation and prayer. In the present review, the evolution of wells through the centuries is examined. The study of water well technologies demonstrates their diachronic evolution and, furthermore, reveals that the ancient people had an outstanding engineering knowledge of water exploitation, which is interesting for water engineering and hydrogeologists, even nowadays.

Traditional Design Principles of a Groundwater Irrigation System in the Foothills of the Western Ghats of Southwest India

“…Regionally, water-harvesting systems in Dakshin Kannada and Kasaragod have been well documented (Kokkal 2002;Balakrishnan and Saritha 2007;Halemane 2007;Balooni et al 2008Balooni et al , 2010Kokkal and Aswathy 2009;Suseelan 2009), and several traditional vernacular systems of capturing water have been identified in the foothills of the Western Ghats. Hill suranga are used alongside other techniques of water harvesting found throughout India, such as wells, and storage techniques, such as small farm ponds; however, the hill topography negates the use of large tank systems (Shah 2003;Voudouris et al 2019). Only at the margins of the inhabitable area, usually near the tops of hills, where the poorest and most vulnerable farmers are concentrated, was there a greater dependency on suranga water because it is the only water supply.…”

Paisajes tradicionales asistidos por galerías drenantes: un patrimonio cultural y territorial amenazado

“…Se trata, pues, de una técnica ancestral, utilizada no solo en la España mediterránea, sino en otras partes del mundo, sobre todo allí donde las condiciones climáticas no permiten disponer de caudales de aguas superficiales con carácter permanente. No obstante, todos los indicios señalan que este ingenio hidráulico se empezó a implementar en el antiguo territorio persa, en las zonas de Asia occidental (Al Karaimeh, 2019), norte de Egipto y Arabia (Wilkinson, 1977), para después expandirse a otras partes del mundo, debido al desarrollo de las rutas comerciales y el aumento de los contactos entre diferentes sociedades y culturas (Voudouris et al, 2019).…”

“…La presencia de estas captaciones es considerable en diferentes ámbitos, como en el sur de Italia, en numerosas áreas de los Balcanes y Grecia (Voudouris et al, 2019), en áreas de la actual Turquía (Ciftci y Leventeli, 2017) o en distintos países de América Central y del Sur (Palerm, 2004;Gómez, 2014). En la cuenca de Turpán, China, los sistemas drenantes, denominados karez, han sido (y continúan siendo) elementos indispensables para el desarrollo social y económico de muchas comunidades locales, con más de 400 galerías funcionales (Mächtle et al, 2019).…”

Sustainability of Underground Hydro-Technologies: From Ancient to Modern Times and toward the Future

“…It represents the longest tunnel and oldest aqueduct in Greece since Hellenistic times and one of the greatest engineering achievements of ancient times. The tunnel, presumably completed between ca 550 and 530 BC, during the tyranny of Polycrates, was in operation until the ca 5th century AD [35]. It is a 1036 m long tunnel with about a 4 m 2 cross section, built to serve as an aqueduct, supplying fresh water from an inland spring to the ancient capital of Samos, which today is called Pythagoreion ( Figure 10).…”