[6] In the 1830s, Marseille began to experience rapid population growth and an epidemic in 1832 to 1835 of cholera convinced the elected officials to act to restore health and to ensure enough water for the city.

A major challenge was passing the canal over the valley of the Arc, which has an altitude of less than 100 metres (328 ft) between Aix-en-Provence and the Etang de Berre.

The project's chief engineer, Franz Mayor de Montricher, rejected the proposal of a bridge trap and decided instead to build an aqueduct where the escarpments on both sides of the valley were closest, at 400 metres (1,312 ft).

Between 1854 and 1869, 77 kilometres (48 mi) of pipes, tanks and basins were constructed, allowing access to water throughout Marseille and the neighboring communes of Plan-de-Cuques, Allauch and Aubagne.

The initial intake of the canal from the Durance was at the Pertuis Bridge in the Vaucluse at an elevation of 185 metres (607 ft) and 50 kilometres (31 mi) from Marseille.

The canal then continues northwest to the southern end of the Cadenet bridge, where it feeds the Retenue d'eau de Saint-Christophe.

From the aqueduct, the canal heads south, through many more tunnels, and feeds the Réservoir du Réaltor, a settling basin needed to clarify the Durance's silt-laden water.

The canal then enters a 3.5 km tunnel south under Arbois plain, where it briefly emerges and passes thru a treatment plant at Les Giraudets.

The canal then enters a second, 5.5 km tunnel which heads southeast and emerges at La Sevine in the 15th arrondissement of Marseille.

The main operations performed by the treatment facilities are pre-chlorination, clarification by flocculation with a coagulant, sand filtration and disinfection with ozone and chlorine.

The culprit was chlorine gas from the water supply that led to a citywide survey of the gasses in the system, but not before others were admitted to hospitals from all over the city.

However, the destructive fire of the store "Nouvelles Galeries" in November 1938 in which 73 people died, the city government was put under trusteeship, and the operation of the canal was entrusted to the Société d’études des eaux de Marseille (SEEM) (English: Society for the study of the Marseille Water) and Raoul Dautry, who had assisted in the creation of the SNCF and was named the first president.

Since then, SEEM, owned equally by Veolia Environnement and Lyonnais des eaux, has controlled the canal's operation.

However, within the city limits, efforts are being made to close up the canal, prompted by safety concerns over the unpredictable nature of the water's flow following valve openings and the steep and slippery walls.

Notable sites include: French novelist Marcel Pagnol refers to the canal in his memoirs, Le Château de ma mère, and states that his father gave a key to enable him to enter the canal through private property and thus shorten his journey.