back then, the city was surrounded by marshes and swamps, and in 1602, plans were made to start building a system of canals to bring water to the center of rio from the rio carioca (carioca river).

several attempts were made, but canal construction was hampered by technical and financial difficulties, and by the end of the 17th century there were only a  few functioning canals.

in 1721 the first attempt at an aqueduct was made, but the construction did not last long as it was built with wood and, due to deterioration of the original aqueduct, a new larger structure was ordered -  engineer josé fernandes pinto alpoim was tasked with improving the system.