Bethesda Presbyterian Church sits on a large plot of land in Northeast Philadelphia’s Bustleton neighborhood. The church’s monthly stormwater fees—higher than they would like—reflected the property’s large proportion of impervious surfaces, which put a considerable burden on the local sewers during storms.
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As we’ve seen over the last six years, to really transform Philadelphia’s landscape on a scale that’s big enough to have a real impact on our rivers, it takes more than just Water Department crews and contractors building rain gardens. In fact, it takes a whole city working together, not to mention supportive partners…
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When leadership at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia decided to create a brand-new, centralized facility for pediatric care, their primary concern was easing the stress young patients and their families often face while undergoing treatment. Today, that vision is recognized at the 12-story Buerger Center, a colorful University City building that opened in 2015…
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In Philadelphia, we’re lucky to have more pools and spray grounds per resident than any other city in the U.S. Because we have all those great, free places to cool off, there’s no reason to open fire hydrants when the weather gets hot or risk swimming in our unpredictable rivers, where drowning is always a risk. Opening hydrants can cause a number of dangerous situations…
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The site of Roxborough’s Pocket Park project, nestled between two buildings along Ridge Avenue, now features the beginnings of a water- and history-themed mural—a bright new addition to a still-developing space that the community hopes will be a keystone attraction for residents and visitors…
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Members of the Philadelphia Water Department’s Public Engagement team joined the local non-profit Diversified Community Services and area block captains on June 10 to clean the publicly-owned lot at Point Breeze Avenue and Mifflin Street—the future home of a rain garden that will soak up stormwater and bring regular maintenance to the site through Philadelphia’s Green City, Clean Waters program.
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From the very beginning, the Fairmount Park system has been an important tool for protecting Philadelphia’s rivers and streams, and to read the history of our park system is to read a story of city planners striving to create natural buffers to protect rivers and streams from industry and development..
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Having passion for a cause doesn’t always pay off. But this summer, it can. If you have a love of the outdoors and an interest in becoming involved in your community, you can be one of the Philadelphia Water Department’s first Watershed Stewards…
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With the return of warmer weather, we’re preparing to restore service at our four Schuylkill River Trail/Kelly Drive water stations and plan to have them online by the end of April. The stations made their debut in spring 2016 and were winterized and closed in late November 2016 to protect the internal…
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The members of the Friends of Upper Roxborough Reservoir Preserve seen here held a cleanup and planted wildflower meadow seed mix at a green stormwater swale located along Summit Avenue in Roxborough. The group maintains the site with support from a mini-grant provided through our Soak It Up Adoption program…
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