http://enfascination.com/wiki/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Austin_on_Water_distribution_in_Oman 2026-05-15T15:48:31Z Revision history for this page on the wiki MediaWiki 1.21.0rc5 http://enfascination.com/wiki/index.php?title=Austin_on_Water_distribution_in_Oman&diff=2151&oldid=prev 2009-05-09T22:26:06Z

<p></p> <p><b>New page</b></p><div><br /> <br /> Water distribution systems go back to Muslim and, uh, pre-muslim, systems.<br /> <br /> Aflaj (sg falaj) a waterway, like an acqueduct. from arabic word meaning to divide<br /> <br /> Omani system, 2700 yr old and still in use<br /> <br /> Heartland of Oman is one big desert. With oases, noth natural and artificial via aflaj.<br /> <br /> No rivers! Fuck.<br /> <br /> So the aflaj uses gravity to conduct the water from the mother well (natch underground resevoir), somewhere in the mountains, to , uh, everywhere else.<br /> <br /> Motherwelldigging is miserable work. Like worse than coal mining. 1 foot down for every 2000 ft across is the proper gradient.<br /> <br /> Ideas of cleanliness in the aflaj stream, viz.:<br /> <br /> Mother well --&gt; Drinking water --&gt; Baths for men --&gt; Baths for women and children --&gt; Forts &amp; mosques --&gt; Mortuary for the washing of the dead --&gt; domestic uses (eg washing) --&gt; date palms --&gt; fields &amp; other agriculture<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> Conservation measures in drought: avoid plowing, use dams.<br /> <br /> 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<br /> <br /> Water rights tied to property rights . Water tribunal still meets every Thursday in Valencia. ANd have been for hundreds of years.<br /> <br /> Threats: maintenance, labor migration, mechanical &amp; electric pumping lower the water table, contamination, global warming, tourist demand, salinization.<br /> <br /> Similar canals in iranian city, in conjuction w cooling towers called win cathcers--natural air conditioning, reckanize. ABout 3 centuries old.<br /> <br /> Decoy aqueduct shafts in forts to thwarts saboteurs<br /> <br /> Not only do aflaj not use energy--they produce it. In Marrakesh, the energy is used to power floating sugar mills.</div>

Seth