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The aqueducts were designed to Rome in the fifth century. B.C. because now the water supply of the City, which until then relied on the Tiber or Wells was no longer sufficient.
Rome was turning into the greatest metropolis of antiquity, then decided to build a aqueduct linking a source and bring fresh water into the city.
The first aqueduct was the Aqua Appia, conduct of underground length of about 16 km, built in 312 BC the behest of the homonymous Consul Appius Claudius, the same who gave his name to the famous street.
The Aqua Marcia, built in 144 BC by Marcio magistrate was instead first non-underground Roman aqueduct. Overall length of 90 km and from the high valley of, was equipped with a part-bridges channels of 16 km. The water was so plentiful and good march, which was reported in Rome during the pontificate of Pius IX.
The Aqua Virgin was constructed in 19 BC by Agrippa to supply the great baths in Campo Marzio.
According to some, the name derives from Virgin virga, a rod that is used by a diviner for research of the liquid in the ground, while others, seems that the purity, virginity, the chlorine-free water have given name.
And 'the water that still flows to the Trevi Fountain.
Over the years they were built, others of greater magnitude. In total were built 24 aqueducts, which carried every day in the City more than 1 million cubic meters of water covering a total of over 400 km pipelines.

Construction and operation
The aqueducts collected water from natural springs located in different considerable distance from the city. The water was moving towards the city due to gravity, which acted as the aqueduct continued to slide all the distance separating the sources to the point of his mouth.
To achieve this each of them was designed so that every single part of the long path corrected slightly lower the previous one, and slightly higher than the next. For this because the water had to be taken from sources located in the hills, more high compared to the position of the city of arrival.
The route of the aqueduct was, however, for the most part was buried or sometimes even dug in the hills and mountains, in this case conduct consisted only of a structure of brick parallelepipeidale waterproofed and ventilated with the wells placed every 20-30 meters.
Only sometimes the pipeline had to pass rivers and plains, and was then necessary to build a support structure (pensiles aquae).
The implementation began with the construction of the foundations of the pillars, if overflying the earth dug a hole several feet deep and was built a solid truncated pyramid with large stone blocks. If instead it was a river was necessary to prepare a wooden fence waterproofed with pitch all around the area of ??construction of each single pillar: so you could remove the water first, then the mud and gravel to build a solid foundation of large blocks stone.
Then began the construction of the piers themselves. These could be Clay and stone, and were superimposed and alternated between them together with mortar. Only then joined the pillars with arches which were built using wooden support structures such ribs that allow the placement of the stones until the close of "Cornerstone".
Built the first arch they proceeded to the building of the other arches always rested on the same pillars, stood on the top floor brick the actual conduct of the aqueduct.

Links
Wikipedia
Imperium Romanum
The aqueducts
The ancient Roman aqueducts