Second-world fantasy media(often inspired by the middle ages) tends to be void of technology, despite the fact people have found creative ways to do things for all of human history. So, this post will be some examples of ways you could expand on your world-building, with a focus on water. The examples will be from all around the world, in hopes of showing you the many creative ways people have used water, and also to possibly spark some ideas for yourself.
Aqueducts
I briefly talked about aqueducts in a previous post, but to put it simply, they use gravity and slopes to carry water into cities that could be many miles away from the source. Amazingly, some of the roman-age aqueducts are still in use today.
With the right flow, the water from these aqueducts could power fountains, fill pools in bath houses, and create sewage treatment options.
Qanat:
Evaporation of water from reservoirs and irrigation canals is a problem that many places struggle with today, but one desert solution was used approximately 3000 years ago.
“Throughout the arid regions of Iran, agricultural and permanent settlements are supported by the ancient qanat system of tapping alluvial aquifers at the heads of valleys and conducting the water along underground tunnels by gravity, often over many kilometres.
The eleven qanats representing this system include rest areas for workers, water reservoirs and watermills.The traditional communal management system still in place allows equitable and sustainable water sharing and distribution.
The qanats provide exceptional testimony to cultural traditions and civilizations in desert areas with an arid climate.”
To make them extra interesting, they could be paired with a wind-tower or wind-catcher. This technology could cool a house through evaporation cooling; or could be used to prevent ice from melting.
Water-Powered Clothing Washing
In Ukraine, there are river-powered washing machines called a valylo which are used to thrash wool blankets until they are soft. The valylo is built out of wood over the river, and the opening in the floor nearly overflows with water current.
Similarly, in Romania, there is a valtoare/vâltori(whirlpool). Water is channeled into a large wooden funnel-like barrel, which has large enough gaps in the wood to let water out, but not enough for the laundry to slip out. Instead of having the water enter into the center of the funnel, it instead is slightly off to the side, causing it to spiral and spin the laundry.
Historically, people would pay the owner to use these with money, grain, or by working the land for as long as it took for the clothes to wash.
Self-Filling Baths
In the Nock Mountains of Carinthia(Austria) there is a building that is one of the last of its kind; a farmers bath. Water runs under the building, and canals re-route some of the water into tubs. Once they are filled, creek rocks that had been heated by the fire are put into the tubs to both heat the water and disperse minerals.
Compared to having to fill a tub with buckets of water, this creek-powered method saves energy and time.
Water Wheel and Wind Mill Powered tech
Water wheels are wheels with paddles that are pushed by the current of water; causing the wheel to spin. This turns cogs which could move the grinding stone of the mill, or perhaps lift and slam down a hammer for use by weavers or blacksmiths.
“The Domesday Book estimated that there were around 6,000 watermills in England in 1086 and it is believed that this number increased over the following 200 years. Watermills were a main power supply until the steam engine was introduced during the Industrial Revolution.”
Windmills work almost the exact same way, but are wind-powered instead of water.
“Like a watermill, the windmill could grind at least 1,000 bushels of grain per week and 6 bushels an hour based on the performance of the wind.”
Transporting Heavy Loads
A horse being prepared to pull a barge.
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Log drivers standing on floating logs.
It is much easier to move heavy loads that are floating on water compared to them on land, so rivers were often put into use. Sometimes, trails were cleared alongside rivers so that horses could pull barges.
“A horse towing a boat with a rope from a towpath could pull 50 times as much cargo as it could pull in a wagon on the road.”
Other times, just the current would be enough. You simply had to plan to put what you needed in the water upstream from where you needed it, then the current would carry it to the location. One example of this are the log-drives. For them, cut logs were put into the water, and very skilled log-drivers would balance on them and guide the logs downstream to where they were needed.
Fish as Neighbors
Both images above are from this website which talks further on this subject.
In Harie, Shiga(Japan), water canals run through much of the town, causing a partnership between the fish in the water and the humans outside of it.
A kabata is a system where a pool is made that has a constant flow of spring water. The people will use that water to wash produce or dishes, and the carp will quickly snatch up any scraps.
The current water that leaves the canals then heads to rice flats, which benefit from the natural fertilizers the fish provide. From there, the water exits the fields, and enters a wetland area to be further cleaned by reeds and other vegetation before finally entering a lake.
It is an ingenious partnership between humans and nature that ensures the water stays clean for those downstream.
Ancient Aquaponics
An illustration demonstrating how chinapa are made.
An example of how raad are made
Aquaponics is where you grow plants with the help of fish water. The fish waste in the water fertilizes the plants, and the runoff from the plants in turn can help the fish. While this might seem like new technology, it actually has ancient roots.
The Aztecs(Mexico) made use of chinapa; which are rafts made of woven reeds and stakes. Soil was added until it was above the water level, and in the end you would have crops of maize, fruit, beans, and more, that you would not have to water. While these are becoming less common, some are still around today.
Similarly, on Dal Lake (Srinagar), people made use of raad (floating garden). For these, a plant called “piyach” is added to the desired area of the lake, and are carefully tended to for the next 2-3 years. As roots grow deep into the lake bed and the shape reaches what was desired, they work together with the plants.
“A raad liven, that looks like a gigantic pincer consisting of two planks – each three feet in width – is lowered by two people in two boats into the soft sediment of the lake bed.
A two feet thick slab of soil, held together by the weeds, is manually severed from the bottom of the lake with the help of the planks which are fitted with steel edges.
The planks then float to the surface bearing a portion of the lake bed with them. More soil is added to the surface of the raad.
The weed decomposes to become a natural fertilizer for the vegetables to be grown.
Markets On Water
In the Lokbaintan village area
In places that have plenty of water, people may use that space to sell their goods.
For example, on Dal Lake (Srinagar) the lake is the economic hub of the people who live there. Similarly, floating markets can be found in Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and more.
Several boats will either meet upon the water to do their trades, or will sell to those on foot who are riverside.
Another common way to do trade on water is during winter when the waters freeze over. While not as common today, historically people would set up markets on the frozen waters in much of the world. One well known version of this was the “Thames Frost Fairs” which took place when the River Thames froze over during the Little Ice Age.
Ice skates have been around for many thousand years (originally carved from bone) so, depending on where the market was, you could expect people on skates, many tents, snow sleds, and even horse wagons.
Those are all the examples I can think of at the moment, but I hope that they helped spark ideas for your world building. I am of course not suggesting that you copy and paste the traditions of a culture into your worlds, but simply take inspiration and build off of it.
If you have more examples, please do not be afraid to share them with us in the comments section below!