The Cleaner, Greener, More Affordable Water Cooler for Philadelphia

The City of Brotherly Love sits in the crux of 2 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.

Today, Philadelphia has 3 water treatment plants to remove harmful chemicals, wastes, and pathogens which can contaminate river water. The city still adds chlorine and other chemicals to protect Philadelphia tap water from bacteria and other organisms, although ammonia reduces the chlorine taste and odor.

The Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers continue to supply approximately 230 million gallons of groundwater daily, and the Schuylkill River in particular has become a National Heritage Area and a scenic river walk. Like many older cities, most of Philadelphia’s water mains and infrastructure consist of cast iron pipes, the industry standard until the mid-1960s. The average age of a Philadelphia water line is about 80 years old, with some pipes dating back to the early 1800s. Older cast iron pipes are prone to corrosion and biofilm contamination from chemical reactions, which create clusters of corrosion and bacteria along the inside of the pipe. Sometimes these clusters break off and travel with your water to your faucet, resulting in cloudiness, red water, and off-taste and odor.

The Philadelphia corrosion control monitoring program has sought to minimize contamination caused by indoor pipes by installing a coating that protects lead from leaching into the water. Programs introduced in 2016 have further helped residents replace lead service lines, and water treatment plants add Zinc Orthophosphate to minimize pipe corrosion. The enforcement of stricter drinking water standards has successfully reduced water turbidity to meet regulatory requirements. However, a recent study by The Environmental Working Group found that Philadelphia tap water ranks among the most contaminated of any major US metropolitan area.