Water supply associated with the development of the city of Athens from the end of the nineteenth century until the present

After its liberation from the Turkish occupation in 1834, Athens started to be reconstructed. The city grew quickly demographically and residentially but the water supplies were not sufficient. There were many functional and cosmetic repairs carried out on the Hadrianic Aqueduct but, for the most part, the water supply of the capital came from springs, mainly those at the Parnitha Mountain and from ground waters. There were people (called “water-carriers/neroulades”) whose business was transporting water from the wells of the Patissia area and the villages Kifissia and Maroussi. The first major water supply intervention as the city was growing demographically and residentially, came from the project of the Marathon dam, followed by the Yliki Lake, the Mornos reservoir and dam and the project at Evinos River. Along the above projects, a great number of drillings took place and smaller dams and aqueducts were constructed. This study presents the progress of major projects for the water supply of Athens after its liberation and how this aligned to the growth of the city from the end of nineteenth century to the present time. The study summarizes the research to date and offers new data in relation to the development of the water supply in Athens over the period covered.