Throwback Thursday: Philadelphia Water Commissioners, Past and Present

From left to right: Kumar Kishinchand, Bernard Brunwasser, Carmen F. Guarino, Howard Neukrug and William Marrazzo.

The photo above is a throwback to the 200th anniversary kickoff event for the Fairmount Water Works held this year on September 10—but it’s also a throwback to four decades of leadership at Philadelphia Water.

It’s not too often you get a group with shared experiences like this together, so we made sure to document the moment and wanted to share it with you. Here’s a little more history:

Samuel S. Baxter was the first commissioner. Before that,water services were provided by the Bureau of Water, the water department’s predecessor, with a Chief Engineer overseeing operations. Click here to read a biography and interview with Baxter (our Baxter Drinking Water Treatment Plant on the Delaware is named in his honor) hosted on the website of our history consultant, Adam Levine.

Here’s a look at all of our commissioners since 1952:

Samuel S. Baxter: 1952-1972 (Died in 1982).

Carmen F. Guarino: 1972-1980

Kenneth Zitomer: 1980 (Died in 2008. Read his obituary here.)

William Marrazzo: 1980-1988

John Plonski: 1989-1992

Kumar Kishinchand: 1992-2000

Richard E. Roy: 2000-2001 (Fun fact: our litter-skimming vessel, the RE Roy is named in his honor.)

Kumar Kishinchand: 2001-2004 (second term)

Bernard Brunwasser: 2004-2011

Howard Neukrug: 2011-2015