ABSTRACT
Protection of muncipal water intake and drainage systems became the subject of numerous statutes contained in the law codes of northern and central Italian municipalities. A careful look at all of the legislation in the Veronese Code of 1276 that relates to the waterways, sewers, or similar conduits reveals a common thread. Spoleto, which derived a large proportion of its potable water from the Vallocchia River by way of a series of aqueducts, passed legislation to insure that the water in the fountains was not polluted. Verona enacted legislation designed to warn its citizens not to tamper with, impede, or divert the water or watercourses of its rivers and streams, lest, in doing so, they cause a loss for property owners in the general vicinity. The elites found it in their interest to protect the water supply from various types of pollution associated with industrial and commercial activities and from the by-products of human habitation, namely, sewage and garbage.
