The Romans were brilliant in their patience. They kept the water flowing by building the channel with a constant, gentle slope, using concrete that hardened in water, and sealing every joint with a bit of bitumen. They also dug aqueducts deep enough to stay below the frost line so the water never froze, and used gravity to do the work for them. If we can study those original profiles and the local geology they used, we might design a system that never needs a pump, just a steady hand of nature. The trick is to respect the ground, not fight it.