The Valdepuentes aqueduct, also known as Aqua Vetus or Aqua Augusta, was one of the three aqueducts which, together with the Aqua Fontis Aureae and the Aqua Nova Domitiana Augusta, in Roman times, supplied water to the city of Corduba.

During the reign of Emperor Augustus (27 BC-14), the expansion of Corduba made it necessary to build an aqueduct for the public water supply, which until then had been provided by underground aquifers drilled by means of numerous wells. That first aqueduct was called Aqua Augusta and later, after the construction of the second aqueduct or Aqua Nova Domitiana Augusta, it was renamed Aqua Vetus, and is now known as the Valdepuentes aqueduct.

Since the 18th and 19th centuries there have been descriptions of aqueducts preserved around the city, but there were doubts as to their Roman or medieval origin, and although the existence of some remains of lead pipes, sewers and sewers pointed to their Roman origin, there was still some doubt as to their possible medieval origin. This doubt has now been dispelled thanks to epigraphic evidence found in the last quarter of the 20th century which reliably proves its Roman origin.

This conduit collected water mainly from the area of Santa María de Trassierra (Bejarano stream, Escarabita pipe and Veneros de Vallehermoso) and was 18.6 kilometres long, running almost entirely underground. The channel (specus) was built in opus caementicium with an interior lining of opus signinum and had a cross-section of 90x64 centimetres with walls 30-40 centimetres thick and covered by a half-barrel vault with an internal radius of 30 centimetres. It is worth noting the existence of a system of more than 40 shallow wells (spiramina) used to reduce the speed of the water on the slopes of the mountain range in the Valdepuentes area. It also had other wells whose mission was to change direction or simply to facilitate the cleaning of the underground conduit. Its water supply to the city is estimated at between 20,000 and 35,000 cubic metres/day.

In medieval times it was reused to supply water to the palatine city of Medinat al-Zahra (Medina Azahara) and today a 2.5 metre long fragment can be seen, belonging to a long section of more than 70 metres found in the excavations for building in the area of the Arruzafilla, which has been preserved by the Town Hall in a garden area next to the Santa Beatriz roundabout, in the vicinity of where it was found.