Water conduits (lead pipes)

Thomas Staub

The basin in front of the large fountain façade in the peristyle b had two outlets for its waste water. High up in the eastern parapet wall a pipe leads towards the east through this wall, which continues towards the Vicolo di Cecilio Giocondo and served as an overflow outlet (This pipe in corridor d is part of this overflow outlet and not as earlier supposed the water supply for V 1,7: see Jansen 2002, 53, note 236; Andersson 1990, 222, who with reference to Mau 1876, 147, believes that it is another fountain). In corridor d in the floor near the north wall, a lead bucket was inserted into the ground, with its upper rim approximately at floor level. The position here probably is a secondary one, since the bead moulding decorating its upper rim was covered by the floor bedding and thus hidden from view. A plausible explanation for this installation might be that the pipe for the overflow from the basin that once ran along the corridor wall, albeit now missing, was equipped with a tap. Thus water could be saved in the bucket to be used when needed in the nearby latrine and in room e. A channel underneath the threshold between the corridor and the side street allowed overflow water to emerge onto the street.