Environmental performance of a XIV Century water management system: An emergy evaluation of cultural heritage

B. Rugani, R.M. Pulselli, V. Niccolucci and S. Bastianoni

Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 2011, vol. 56, issue 1, 117-125

Abstract: In the late Middle Ages, the city of Siena (Italy) had a high population density and had to face the problem of supplying water within the city walls for housing, crafts, economic and commercial activities, as well as for the risk of fire. A network of underground drifts, namely “Bottini”, was then built, achieving a total length of about 25km in the late XIV Century. The Bottini have been capturing and conducting rain water from the countryside to the fountains in the city centre for centuries, and still provide an average 9.5Ls−1 of clean water, though it is not drinkable nowadays. Currently, water provided by the ancient aqueduct is only used to fill a set of monumental fountains, and is then wasted.

Keywords: Bottini; Cultural heritage; Emergy; Environmental accounting; Water management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:recore:v:56:y:2011:i:1:p:117-125

DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2011.08.009

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