Philadelphia water quality: then
The City of Brotherly Love sits in the crux of two mighty rivers, the Schuylkill and Delaware. Even with fresh water on both sides of the city, colonial Philadelphia was fraught with frequent and widespread epidemics. In the 1700s, Philadelphians often dumped industrial waste and human sewage into the creeks and streams, and disease-causing contaminants decreased the Philadelphia water quality.
An increase in water pollution drove the city to innovate and build one of the country’s first water and wastewater systems. Surface creeks and streams provided the framework for this infrastructure to improve Philadelphia water quality. Sewers in creek beds cost-effectively used gravity flow to move the wastewater away from the city, allowing city planners to create a grid layout.
Unfortunately, the systematic erasing of surface creeks and streams impacted the natural waterflow. Of the 283 miles of streams that once carried runoff to the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers, only 118 miles remained. It wasn’t until the early 20th Century that city planners realized the negative effects of piping streams. In 1815, they combined the beauty of nature and the science of engineering to create the awe-inspiring Fairmount Water Works, praised for its pleasant Neoclassical exterior and cutting-edge water supply system. (Check out the video below to learn more about Fairmount Water Works.)
To further improve Philadelphia water quality and curb sewage pollution, lawmakers passed the Purity of Water Act in 1905. Although not enforced until the 1950s, the act combatted sewage-filled intake sources by adding chlorine to filtered water. Philadelphia drinking water earned the nickname “Schuylkill Punch” for its chlorinous smell and earthy, musty scent from algae growth.
