Monday, April 22, 2013

History of Water Management in Philadelphia


History of Philadelphia's Water Management 

1800s Center Square 
  • center point between 2 rivers, pumped water out
  • distributing to too large of a population, needed to reach outside of city for more water
  • reached out to external watersheds for water utilizing the gravity directed streams to bring it to the city

1820s Fairmount Waterworks
  • effective when demand increased -- added hydraulic pumps
  • Fairmount Park acted as a buffer to protect the water (keep clean)
  • wasn't decommissioned until mid-20th century

1860s on
  • sewage still directly dumped into rivers, leading to health epidemics

1900s
  • first filtration plants on the water

1913
  • chlorinated the water
1950-60s
  • approval to build 3 sewage treatment plants (clean water before dumped into rivers)
City's current plan: Green City, Clean Waters
  • large focus on stormwater management, restoring streams and habitats of aquatic communities
  • continually upgrading the system to accomodate for population fluctuations


GOLDILOCKS:  City-wide regulation of drinking water and sewage decontamination, Site-management concerning grey water


Angela Foley, Gabrielle Gaulin, Emily Wylie

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