@Philly H2O Blog

Infrastructure

News and info about the pipes, plants and people that keep our city running + protect our rivers & creeks.

Oh, May: Should We Worry After Dry Spring?

June 1, 2015  |  Brian Rademaekers

This May was an extremely dry one for Philadelphia, with the city recording just .59 inches of rain before a sizeable downpour last week. The rain that fell May 27 was by far the heaviest of the month, more than doubling the total.

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DC Reminds Us: The ‘Why’ Behind Green City, Clean Waters

May 22, 2015  |  Brian Rademaekers

We couldn’t help but notice all the buzz down in Washington this week as they made the case for green to residents and unveiled revised stormwater plans relying heavily on green infrastructure. We congratulate DC Water on a big step in the right the right direction! Their debut also reminded us of our Green City, Clean Waters rollout way back in 2011, and got us thinking about the “why” behind gre

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Do You Know What’s Happening at Venice Island?

May 14, 2015  |  Brian Rademaekers

While we were working with Mural Arts to install artist Eurhi Jones’ Waterways, a 10-block string of colorful steppingstones in Manayunk, our public engagement team took the time to do an informal survey of people passing through the neighborhood.

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Good Conversations, Good Community, Good Water: Big SandBox Lands Knight Grant

April 20, 2015  |  Public Affairs

Our green infrastructure projects are nothing without coordinated partnerships and a healthy dose of organic community input to help them take shape and grow. Now, thanks to a John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Knight Cities Challenge grant*, The Big SandBox, one of our green school program partners, will have the means ($149,000 of it!) to make that happen at four Philadelphia schools. The Bi

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The Value of Water

March 30, 2015  |  Abby Sullivan

Philadelphia Water Department is proud to be a founding member of The Value of Water Coalition, an alliance of public and private water agencies, business and community leaders, and national organizations united in communicating the importance of water to the economic, environmental, and social well-being of America.

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Thanks to Our Cold Weather Heroes!

February 27, 2015  |  Abby Sullivan

If you’ve been listening to the radio or watching TV news any morning over the last couple months, you’ve undoubtedly heard several reports about broken water mains all over the region. Though we’ve been able to dodge the snowfall that has made life very difficult in other cities, the extreme swings in temperature have done a number on our pipes.

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Get Funding for Projects to Protect the Schuylkill River Watershed

February 24, 2015  |  Abby Sullivan

The Fund provides grants to government agencies and non-profit organizations for projects that improve the quality of water in the Schuylkill’s watershed. Since 2006, the Fund has collected more than $2 million and funded over 60 projects! Applications are now being accepted for the 2015 Schuylkill River Restoration Fund.

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Yorktown Green Streets Project Coming Soon

January 29, 2015  |  Public Affairs

Yorktown, a small residential neighborhood in North Philadelphia just south of Temple University (and once home to Gospel and Rock and Roll legend Sister Rosetta Tharpe!) will soon have one mile of bike lanes, two bus shelters, wider pedestrian islands, new ADA ramps and over 25 specially designed stormwater planters that will manage rainfall from the surrounding street. These upgrades are part of

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London Councillor Takes Note of Green City, Clean Waters

January 16, 2015  |  Public Affairs

In a letter to the editor of The Economist (third one from the top), Councillor Harry Phibbs of London’s Hammersmith and Fulham Borough responds to their September article “London’s Sewers, Smelling Sweet” about the Thames Tideway Tunnel. He makes a point about using green, natural stormwater infrastructure solutions by referencing Philadelphia’s “better, cheaper alternative of green infrastructur

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