There are many people on Earth today that live with severe water shortages and severe lack of sanitation, particularly among the poor. These people for the most part do not understand the knowledge base of methodologies of harvesting and conveying water and sanitation methods that have been around for thousands of years. A survey of ancient water technologies used in semi-arid and arid regions is presented in this paper. The survey will include methodologies used by Mesopotamians, the Persians, the Egyptians, and the Nabataeans. The attempt here is to explore how these traditional methods developed by the ancients in semi-arid and arid regions of the world could possibly be used to help solve the present-day water resources sustainability problems, especially in developing parts of the world. The advantages of the traditional knowledge of ancient water technologies are explored with the goal of determining ways to help poor people with water shortages and sanitation.
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Research Article|
March 03 2017
Survey of ancient water technologies in semi-arid and arid regions: traditional knowledge for the future Available to Purchase
Larry W. Mays
1School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
E-mail: [email protected]
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Water Supply (2017) 17 (5): 1278–1286.
Article history
Received:
August 31 2016
Accepted:
November 15 2016
Citation
Larry W. Mays; Survey of ancient water technologies in semi-arid and arid regions: traditional knowledge for the future. Water Supply 1 October 2017; 17 (5): 1278–1286. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/ws.2017.027
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