Water theft is illegal tapping of

water supply system A water supply network or water supply system is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components that provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes the following: # A drainage basin (see water purification – source ...

s. Together with losses from

water leak A leak is a way (usually an opening) for fluid to escape a container or fluid-containing system, such as a Water tank, tank or a ship's Hull (watercraft), hull, through which the contents of the container can escape or outside matter can enter t ...

s in the piping, water theft is one of the major factors contributing to

non-revenue water Non revenue water (NRW) is water that has been produced and is "lost" before it reaches the customer. Losses can be real losses (through leaks, sometimes also referred to as physical losses) or apparent losses (for example through theft or meteri ...

Thames Water Thames Water Utilities Ltd, known as Thames Water, is a large private utility company responsible for the public water supply and waste water treatment in most of Greater London, Luton, the Thames Valley, Surrey, Gloucestershire, north Wiltshir ...

estimated losses by theft to amount to 2 to per year in 2017, flowing through 734 unauthorized connections. The basic controversy, however, of whether there can be such a thing as water theft (by individuals and for personal use, that is), is open.

Roman period

Water theft is not a new phenomenon. In

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

extensive networks of

aqueducts Aqueduct may refer to: Structures *Aqueduct (bridge), a bridge to convey water over an obstacle, such as a ravine or valley *Navigable aqueduct, or water bridge, a structure to carry navigable waterway canals over other rivers, valleys, railw ...

provided a public supply of water to Roman cities. There was extensive theft from this system, often perpetrated by corrupt watermen responsible for installing and maintaining supplies. Corrupt practices included stamping an incorrect size on a supply pipe so that the customer was charged for a smaller pipe than the one they actually obtained, secretly providing an unapproved supply (usually underground where it could not be seen) by puncturing the mains pipe, and a scam that involved providing a new pipe when a property changed hands. In the latter case, instead of simply transferring the existing account to the new occupier, a new pipe was installed from the water tower. The old pipe was kept by the fraudster who then sold on the water from it.Harry B. Evans, ''Water Distribution in Ancient Rome: The Evidence of Frontinus'', pp. 45–47, University of Michigan Press, 1997 Some other dubious practices may sometimes have been due to incompetence, and sometimes deliberate fraud. Installing a connection lower down on the water tower provides a higher pressure, and therefore faster flow, than one of the same capacity stamp fitted higher up. Another issue was that the connection at the tower could be of the authorised size and correctly stamped, but a much larger pipe was connected to it. This will draw more water than the smaller pipe despite the connectors being the same size. During the first century, much more detailed water standards and practices were promulgated to address some of these issues. These included the requirement that not only the connectors, but also the pipes had to be stamped with their authorised size along their entire lengths at specified distances. The regulations on overflow water was also tightened up. Overflow occurs when the aqueduct is delivering water to the towers faster than it is being consumed. Watermen previously considered that selling this water was a

perk of the job Employee benefits and (especially in British English) benefits in kind (also called fringe benefits, perquisites, or perks) include various types of non-wage compensation provided to employees in addition to their normal wages or salaries. Insta ...

, but could now only be supplied to authorised persons.

References

{{reflist Water supply

Roman period

See also

References