The Canal de Marseille is a major source of

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...

for all of

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, the largest city in

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

along its main artery is long but has additional of minor arteries. Its construction lasted 15 years and was directed by the engineer Franz Mayor de Montricher; the canal opened on July 8, 1849. The canal was a significant achievement of 18th-century engineering, combining bridges, tunnels and reservoirs over mountainous terrain. Until 1970, it was almost the sole water source for Marseille, and it still provides two thirds of the city's

History

Marseille is along the hilly

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

seafront and is crossed only by the irregular

Huveaune The Huveaune (; oc, Evèuna) is a small river in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. It is long and flows through the communes of La Penne-sur-Huveaune, Nans-les-Pins, Saint-Zacharie, Plan-d'Aups-Sainte-Baume, Aurio ...

River and its tributary, the . The waters were canalised in the 14th century but gradually became an open sewer. Water quality continued to decline, and distribution suffered because of the lack of maintenance of the network. Also, since the river has only a small flow, droughts were devastating to the region. For example, in 1834, the river nearly dried out completely, and only was available per person, per day. In the 1830s, Marseille began to experience rapid population growth and an epidemic in 1832 to 1835 of

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

convinced the elected officials to act to restore health and to ensure enough water for the city. Durance near Manosque

This cholera epidemic caused the death of 100,000 people throughout France. Originally from Asia, the disease spread along the

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

Valley in 1826 and the

Caspian Caspian can refer to: *The Caspian Sea *The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea *The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea *Caspian languages, collection of languages and dialects of Caspian peopl ...

and

Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...

in 1829. In 1830, the disease overtook

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and, in 1833,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. In March 1832, cholera reached

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, and 18,000 died, and the eipedemic killed many people in Haute-Provence. In July 1833, the epidemic reached Marseille. By December 1834, the death toll had been 865, and in 1835, it was 2,500. Fears were revived of the

Great Plague of Marseille The Great Plague of Marseille was the last major outbreak of bubonic plague in Western Europe. Arriving in Marseille, France, in 1720, the disease killed a total of 100,000 people: 50,000 in the city during the next two years and another 50,000 t ...

, just over a century earlier, which had caused around 100,000 deaths. In July 1833, a gathering of 30,000 residents in the city centre protested the poor sanitary conditions. Maximin-Dominica Consolat, the city's mayor from 1832 to 1843, decided in 1834 to improve conditions "no matter what it costs." The decision was made to bring in water from the nearest large river, the

Durance The Durance (; ''Durença'' in the Occitan classical norm or ''Durènço'' in the Mistralian norm) is a major river in Southeastern France. A left tributary of the Rhône, it is long. Its drainage basin is .massif de l'Étoile The Massif de l'Étoile (Occitan: ''Montanha de l'Estela'', French: ''massif de l'Étoile'', i.e. "Star Mountain", "Star Massif") is a little mountain range located north of Marseilles, in Occitania and in France France (), officia ...

). The plan had water to be captured quite high on the Durance and gravity to be harnessed to overcome the terrain so that water would arrive in Marseille at the highest point of the city, Saint-Antoine (), thus allowing water to serve the whole city.

Construction

The building of the canal took 15 years, from 1839 to 1854, and covered , of which being underground. The canal also crosses 18 bridges. Viaduc de Roquefavour

Indeed, a major challenge was passing the canal over the valley of the Arc, which has an altitude of less than between

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...

and the Etang de Berre. The project's chief engineer, Franz Mayor de Montricher, rejected the proposal of a bridge

trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

and decided instead to build an aqueduct where the escarpments on both sides of the valley were closest, at . That would become the

Roquefavour Aqueduct The Roquefavour Aqueduct (french: Aqueduc de Roquefavour) is an aqueduct in Ventabren, near Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, France. The aqueduct was first planned in 1565, but it was not realized until the 19th century. It was designed by Je ...

Ventabren Ventabren () is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Location It is close to Aix-en-Provence, and only away from Coudoux and Velaux. History The villages dates back to 920-940 AD, when Guillaume I, Count of Pr ...

, inspired by the Roman architectural work

Pont du Gard The Pont du Gard is an ancient Roman aqueduct bridge built in the first century AD to carry water over to the Roman colony of ''Nemausus'' ( Nîmes). It crosses the river Gardon near the town of Vers-Pont-du-Gard in southern France. The Pont ...

. Since then, the Roquefavour Aqueduct, long, has been regarded as one of the main tourist attractions of Aix-en-Provence. The canal is mostly

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

, but some portions are made of

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

. The canal's flow is per second, and the slope is per . The width at the top is , and the width at the basin is . Water began flowing through the partly-finished canal on November 19, 1849 in Marseille. Between 1854 and 1869, of pipes, tanks and basins were constructed, allowing access to water throughout Marseille and the neighboring communes of

Plan-de-Cuques Plan-de-Cuques (; oc, Lo Plan de Cucas) is a commune northeast of Marseille in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France. It is located 9.2 km (5.7 mi) from Marseille. Population The i ...

Allauch Allauch (; oc, Alaug) is a French commune situated east of Marseille in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Allaudiens'' or ''Allaudiennes'' in ...

and

Aubagne Aubagne (, ''Aubanha'' in Occitan language, Occitan according to the classic norm or ''Aubagno'' according to the Mistralian norm) is a Commune in France, commune in the southern French Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône. In ...

. Although the population over the next 40 years, Marseille in 1876 had over 30 times more water per capita: for domestic usage and for industrial activities, daily.

Through Bouches-du-Rhône

The initial intake of the canal from the

Durance The Durance (; ''Durença'' in the Occitan classical norm or ''Durènço'' in the Mistralian norm) is a major river in Southeastern France. A left tributary of the Rhône, it is long. Its drainage basin is .Vaucluse Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label= Provençal or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.Saint-Estève-Janson. This portion of the canal, now known as the ''Ancien Canal de Marseille'', was abandoned when the ''Canal EDF de la Durance'' went into service in 1966. Since that time, water initially enters the canal at the hydroelectric station just northwest of Saint-Estève-Janson. The canal then continues northwest to the southern end of the

Cadenet Cadenet () is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Cadenétiens'' in French. Geography Cadenet is a village located on the southern slopes of the Lub ...

bridge, where it feeds the ''Retenue d'eau de Saint-Christophe''.
Canal09

The route then clings to the hills, passes above

La Roque-d'Anthéron La Roque-d'Anthéron (; Provençal: ''La Ròca d'Antarron'') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southern France. Part of the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, it is located on the de ...

and Charleval, turns to the south and exits the Durance valley and

EDF EDF may refer to: Organisations * Eclaireurs de France, a French Scouting association * Education for Development Foundation, a Thai charity * Électricité de France, a French energy company ** EDF Energy, their British subsidiary ** EDF Luminus, ...

via a 3.7km tunnel under the west end of the hills of the Chaîne des Côtes. The canal emrges from the tunnel to the west of

Lambesc Lambesc () is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southern France. In 2018, it had a population of 9,799. Lambesc is located in the heart of Provence at the foot of the Côtes mountain ra ...

, whereupon the canal's path becomes more complex: many bridges and tunnels are required to travel the valleys on its way to

Coudoux Coudoux (; oc, Codoç) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Location It is away from Aix-en-Provence, away from Salon-de-Provence, and nearly away from Marseille. As for villages, it is away from Velaux, ...

. The canal travels around the hill of

, and comes to the River Arc, where it enters the

. Near this area, the Paris-Marseille high speed railway line passes it, and the railway bridge structure has been designed to harmonize with the aqueduct. From the aqueduct, the canal heads south, through many more tunnels, and feeds the Réservoir du Réaltor, a settling basin needed to clarify the Durance's silt-laden water. The canal then enters a 3.5km tunnel south under Arbois plain, where it briefly emerges and passes thru a treatment plant at Les Giraudets. The canal then enters a second, 5.5km tunnel which heads southeast and emerges at La Sevine in the 15th arrondissement of Marseille. From here the canal heads south and begins to splinter into many smaller canals which feed the city. One branch of the canal works its way completely around the eastern side of Marseille, turning south then west and finally ending at the Mediterranean at Mont Rose in Montredon in the 8th arrondissement of Marseille. Canal28

Present day

Water quality

The canal is no longer the sole water source for Marseille. The Canal de Provence, almost completely underground, is a network of canals from the

Verdon River The Verdon (, ) is a river in Southeastern France, left tributary of the Durance. Its drainage basin is .

built in the 1970s that now brings water to not only Marseille but also

and

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

. Today, that water is approximately two thirds of the water brought into Marseille, the remaining third comes from the Verdon through Provence. Both sources are connected. The water is treated in two

water treatment Water treatment is any process that improves the Water quality, quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking water, drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recrea ...

facilities: Sainte-Marthe and Saint-Barnabé. The main operations performed by the treatment facilities are pre-

chlorination Chlorination may refer to: * Chlorination reaction In chemistry, halogenation is a chemical reaction that entails the introduction of one or more halogens into a compound. Halide-containing compounds are pervasive, making this type of transform ...

, clarification by

flocculation Flocculation, in the field of chemistry, is a process by which colloidal particles come out of suspension to sediment under the form of floc or flake, either spontaneously or due to the addition of a clarifying agent. The action differs from pr ...

with a coagulant, sand filtration and disinfection with

ozone Ozone (), or trioxygen, is an inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , breaking down in the lo ...

and

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate betwee ...

. In 2006, the health authority of Marseille carried out a number of tests on the water quality, determining that the canal's water conformed to all required norms. In 2009, a young mother and her baby where found dead in their apartment: the culprit was chlorine gas from the water supply. That led to a citywide survey of the gasses in system but not before others were admitted to hospitals from all over the city.

Administration

The canal was operated by the City of Marseille from 1849 to 1941. However, the destructive fire of the store "Nouvelles Galeries" in November 1938 in which 73 people died, the city government was put under trusteeship, and the operation of the canal was entrusted to the (SEEM) ( en, Society for the study of the Marseille Water) and Raoul Dautry, who had assisted in the creation of the

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...

and was named the first president. Since then, SEEM, owned equally by

Veolia Environnement Veolia Environnement S.A., branded as Veolia, is a French Multinational corporation, transnational company with activities in three main service and utility areas traditionally managed by public authorities – water resource management, water m ...

and ''Lyonnais des eaux'', has controlled the canal's operation.

Support and maintenance

Upon entering the treatment facility at Sainte-Marthe in the 14th arrondissement, the canal water is filtered at the ''bassin du Merlan'' before it exits the structure to enter the distribution network of Marseille. However, the canal is for more than sanitary purposes. Historically, the structure assisted in irrigating fields for farmers and gardeners and greatly boosted the growth of gardening in the area. The canal's offshoot irrigation ditches are controlled by the ''aygadiers'', who have the right to cross private property ito assist in the repair and operation of the canal. The focus of SEEM and the ''aygadiers'' has recently been on centring the use of the canal on drinking water. Therefore, irrigation rights are not being renewed, and the city is providing pressurised water instead. Furthermore, the canal authority employs 15 ''chercheurs de fuite'' ( French: literally "searchers of leaks"), who are responsible for finding leaks in the distribution system. To help them, they use

geophone A geophone is a device that converts ground movement (velocity) into voltage, which may be recorded at a recording station. The deviation of this measured voltage from the base line is called the seismic response and is analyzed for structure of ...

s, which amply sound up to 400 times. Employees have allowed the efficiency of the canal to raise to 85%.L'eau dans Les gens de Marseille..., p 79

Security

The canal outside Marseille proper is open to the air and can be followed along the road except for the underground sections. However, within the city limits, efforts are being made to cover the canal, prompted by safety concerns over the unpredictable nature of the water's flow following valve openings and the steep and slippery walls. In addition, there are ongoing campaigns aimed at adding fences, lifelines and barriers and posting warning signs along the canal's route

As tourist site and cultural attraction

The canal passes through many picturesque regions of Provence and contains bicycle and walking paths along its route. Notable remarkable sites include: * The ''aqueduc de Roquefavour'', near Aix-en-Provence ; * The ''

palais Longchamp The Palais Longchamp is a monument in the 4th arrondissement of Marseille, France. It houses the Musée des beaux-arts and Muséum d'histoire naturelle de Marseille. The surrounding Longchamp Park (French: ''Parc Longchamp'') is listed by the Fr ...

'', an historic monument in the center of Marseille ; * The réservoir de Sainte-Marthe ; * The banks of the canal along the ''Plateau d'Arbois''.

Marcel Pagnol

French novelist

Marcel Pagnol Marcel Paul Pagnol (; 28 February 1895 – 18 April 1974) was a French novelist, playwright, and filmmaker. Regarded as an auteur, in 1946, he became the first filmmaker elected to the Académie française. Although his work is less fashionable ...

refers to the canal in his memoirs, ''Le Château de ma mère'', and states that his father gave a key to enable him to enter the canal through private property and thus shorten his journey. However, the truth of that claim is doubted.

Bibliography

* ''Les gens de Marseille font le guide'', éd. Images en manœuvres éditions, 2003 (chapitre « L'eau avec Emmanuel Guiol »)

References and notes

External links

Construction of canal
Museum of Marseille {{DEFAULTSORT:Canal De Marseille Buildings and structures in Marseille

Buildings and structures in Bouches-du-Rhône Provence Canals opened in 1849 1849 establishments in France