The Philadelphia Water Department is thrilled to receive the 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania's Excellence in Public Infrastructure Award in recognition of the success of the Green City, Clean Waters program.

Commissioner Debra A. McCarty will accept the honor at the 2016 Commonwealth Awards, an annual fundraiser held for the 10,000 Friends group. The ceremony will take place on Tuesday, January 24 from 5:30-8 p.m. at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University.

RSVP now! 

A “leading voice for smart growth,” 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania is a non-profit advocacy group representing a “statewide alliance of organizations and individuals dedicated to creating and protecting healthy, walkable, and thriving communities that are great places to live and work.”

Drexel University will also be the inaugural recipient of the Joanne Denworth Founders Award, the highest award given by the statewide nonprofit. Drexel President John A. Fry will accept the honor and deliver keynote remarks. SEPTA will be presented with the Excellence in Community Transportation Award.

To make a donation and save a spot at the awards:

Visit the 10,000 Friends page and RVSP by Jan. 17

The 2016 Commonwealth Awards showcases “the transformational impact institutions can have through creative public-private partnerships and strategic investment in placemaking projects that exemplify land use excellence.”

In 2016, the City of Philadelphia celebrated the first five years of Green City, Clean Waters, a groundbreaking green infrastructure program that protects local waterways from pollution by greening neighborhoods and improving stormwater infrastructure.

While the program is set to expand more than tenfold in the coming years, hundreds of public and private green stormwater infrastructure projects are already reducing pollution from sewer overflows and runoff by 1.5 billion gallons during a typical year.

Read more about the success of Green City, Clean Waters' first five years here.