Lead in Water Pipes and Kitchen Pans

The big cities in aU parts of the Roman Empire had a great demand for water. The citizens used water not only for drinking and cooking but also for public conveniences, for thermal baths and for fountains. Aqueducts had to be built to transport these enormous quantities of water. Lead tubes were used for branch pipes. In fact the Romans made lead into a metal for everyday use. 

The manufacture of lead tubes was a manifestation of the Roman system and regulations. Molten lead was cast into plates with the length of 3 m and a thickness of 

1) A translation into English in 1912 by Herbert C. Hoover, mining engineer, and his wife Lou, geologist. In 1929 Herbert Hoover became the 3T President of the United States. 

METHOD, G--CllANNET., H—I.rniAEi K. J—LoWER CRUCIBLE OR HEAKTH. K—STICK. 

5-7 mm. Ten different plate widths were used for ten standardized tube sizes. The greatest and the smallest tube dimensions are shown in Table 43.1. 

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