Robert W. Ritzi Jr., Wright State University
Les Fountaines Publiques de la Ville de Dijon (Darcy, 1856) is well known for introducing the equation of ground-water motion. The monograph is a summary of Darcy’s career-long study of hydraulics including water flow in canals, aqueducts, pipes, sand filters, and ground-water wells. He presented his knowledge in these areas in reviewing his construction of the public water supply system for Dijon, a system completed in 1840. The authors have recently traveled the length of Darcy’s aqueduct system from its source at Rosoir spring, to the Porte Guillaume reservoir (at Jardin Darcy as it enters Dijon), through the city, to the terminal reservoir. We present the state of Darcy’s original aqueduct (no longer in use) and public water supply system, and compare his design to the modern public water supply system serving Dijon.
The 2007 Ground Water Summit