Qanat Maintenance and Preservation

When the workers wrap up the construction of qanat, it does not mean that their job is over. They have to keep tabs on the qanat all the time to keep its water flowing out or even increase the qanat water discharge. They have some tools and methods to examine the integrity and health of qanat structure. This chapter takes up the traditional methods to keep a qanat in shape by preserving and maintaining its mechanism such as extending its gallery into water bearing zone, deepening, branching, dredging, lining, etc. In this chapter we also investigate the destructive factors such as earthquake and human induced threats, their impact on qanats and how to keep them at bay. Therefore this chapter focuses on the measures taken to preserve qanat and maintain or increase the qanat water flow.