Roman aqueduct
Rome's first aqueduct was built in 312 BC, and supplied a water fountain at the city's cattle market. By the 3rd century AD, the city had eleven aqueducts, sustaining a population of over a million in a water-extravagant economy; most of the water supplied the city's many public baths. Cities and towns throughout the Roman Empire emulated this model, and funded aqueducts as objects of public interest and civic pride, "an expensive yet necessary luxury to which all could, and did, aspire".
Chapultepec aqueduct
After his arrival in the Aztec empire, Hernan Cortes discovered the economic and political importance of the Chapultepec aqueduct. He took advantage of the city's dependence on the aqueduct and blocked the fresh water supply, eventually destroying it. Shortly after the Spanish conquest, he set about dividing the land among the conquistadors. He wanted to take the forest of Chapultepec for himself, but Charles V, King of Spain, denied his request and decreed that the springs were needed to provide the people with potable water and were thereby the property of the city of Tenochtitlan. Construction of a new aqueduct started under the reigning Viceroy Fernando de Alencastre, 1st Duke of Linares (1711-1716). The structure became known under another name as the Aqueduct of Belen, named after an old Belen convent it passed by. Built along the same path as the Aztec engineered aqueducts, it was constructed using Roman architecture, reflected in its 904 arches. In completion, it reached a total length of 4663 varas, roughly 4 kilometers. In conquest times, the aqueduct supplied the city with the majority of its freshwater, however, waterborne illness was a concern. In an effort to reduce the possibility of external contamination, iron and lead pipes were installed to replace the open troughs during the 19th Century. These shielded the water from air and outside contaminants but did not decrease the number of pathogen related illnesses and death.