Austin on Water distribution in Oman



Water distribution systems go back to Muslim and, uh, pre-muslim, systems.

Aflaj (sg falaj) a waterway, like an acqueduct. from arabic word meaning to divide

Omani system, 2700 yr old and still in use

Heartland of Oman is one big desert.  With oases, noth natural and artificial via aflaj.

No rivers!  Fuck.

So the aflaj uses gravity to conduct the water from the mother well (natch underground resevoir), somewhere in the mountains, to , uh, everywhere else.

Motherwelldigging is miserable work.  Like worse than coal mining.  1 foot down for every 2000 ft across is the proper gradient.

Ideas of cleanliness in the aflaj stream, viz.:

Mother well --> Drinking water --> Baths for men --> Baths for women and children  --> Forts & mosques  --> Mortuary for the washing of the dead  --> domestic uses (eg washing)  --> date palms  --> fields & other agriculture

Sort of a coop system.  But .  Had to buy water rights at auction every 6 months--as in, time on the aflaj.  Water watchmen on the aflaj would use astronomy, sun clocks, water clocks, moveable dams to monitor water use.  Some would donate produce of palms--or leftover time--back to aflaj.  Who can say what the motives for philanthropy are.

Conservation measures in drought: avoid plowing, use dams.

Aflaj enforced scale restraints--Omani cities never got that big pq they could nnot outgrow the aflaj--instead, scattered, small, self-sufficient towns and villages

Water rights tied to property rights .  Water tribunal still meets every Thursday in Valencia.  ANd have been for hundreds of years.

Threats: maintenance, labor migration, mechanical & electric pumping lower the water table, contamination, global warming, tourist demand, salinization.

Similar canals in iranian city, in conjuction w cooling towers called win cathcers--natural air conditioning, reckanize.  ABout 3 centuries old.

Decoy aqueduct shafts in forts to thwarts saboteurs

Not only do aflaj not use energy--they produce it.  In Marrakesh, the energy is used to power floating sugar mills.