On Wednesday, I was pleased to attend the first annual progress report for Philadelphia’s Greenworks Plan, a six-year plan for making Philadelphia the greenest city in the country.
The event was inspiring. It was great to see so many environmental and community organizations working together to celebrate our city and help it become as sustainable as possible. Often times, in a big city with an old infrastructure like Philadelphia, it can seem like positive environmental change happens very, very slowly. We hear the complaints all the time: “Nothing is happening!” “Where are my tax dollars going?” “Why isn’t Philadelphia as ‘green’ as other cities?”
Well, change IS happening all around us. It will take some time, but Philadelphia has already made some really great strides in the realm of greening. Read the report here and check out all the amazing progress that’s been made citywide in just one year!
This article from the Philadelphia Daily News spells out some of the achievements:
Divert 70 percent of solid waste from landfills - In other words, increase the recycling rate. And it is ticking up. Over the past year, the diversion rate was 16 percent of waste, compared with 12 percent during the previous year. Officials expect it to go even higher now that the recycling-rewards program is set to go citywide.
Provide park and recreation space within 10 minutes of 75 percent of residents – The plan is to add 500 acres of public space. Gajewski said the city is working with neighborhoods to figure out what they want.
Plant 300,000 trees – This is one of the more ambitious goals. Since Greenworks started, 2,846 trees have been planted. In April, the Department of Parks and Recreation kicked off a tree-planting campaign called “Green Philly, Grow Philly.” It is seeking partnerships with private businesses, nonprofits and other organizations to increase the number of trees. But Nutter last week said he would cut $2.5 million the city budgeted to tree-planting, due to financial constraints, which will undoubtedly slow this effort.
Double the number of green jobs – Last year, the city said it wanted to increase the number of green jobs – loosely defined as jobs with an environmental benefit – from 14,379 to 28,800. So far, it has created at least 520 jobs, largely through stimulus funding for types of construction work.
Of course, here at TTF, we are most excited by all the great progress made in the arena of stormwater management, thanks in large part to the Philadelphia Water Department’s Green City, Clean Waters plan. We’re looking forward to the 2011 progress report. In the mean time, we’ll keep doing our part to help make Philadelphia the greenest city in the country!
Be sure to check out the video below, which explains the Philadelphia Water Department’s Green City, Clean Waters plan. The plan “envisions transforming the city into an oasis of rain gardens, green roofs, treescapes, and porous pavements, which advocates say is cheaper than tunnels and makes for a more liveable, prettier city with higher property values and better community health.” Watch out for TTF Executive Director Sarah RobbGrieco, who is featured in the film!
The New York Times has recently published some more truly fascinating articles in their “Toxic Waters” series. In “Millions in U.S. Drink Dirty Water, Records Show,” Charles Duhigg explains how some water treatment systems have gotten away with illegal concentrations of harmful substances in drinking water. From the article:
More than 20 percent of the nation’s water treatment systems have violated key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act over the last five years, according to a New York Times analysis of federal data.
That law requires communities to deliver safe tap water to local residents. But since 2004, the water provided to more than 49 million people has contained illegal concentrations of chemicals like arsenic or radioactive substances like uranium, as well as dangerous bacteria often found in sewage.
Regulators were informed of each of those violations as they occurred. But regulatory records show that fewer than 6 percent of the water systems that broke the law were ever fined or punished by state or federal officials, including those at the Environmental Protection Agency, which has ultimate responsibility for enforcing standards.
In “Sewers at Capacity, Waste Poisons Waterways,” Duhigg explains the problem with combined sewer overflows, with a brief mention of how Philadelphia is addressing the problem through the Green City, Clean Waters program.
Duhigg explains the problem in a nutshell:
One goal of the Clean Water Act of 1972 was to upgrade the nation’s sewer systems, many of them built more than a century ago, to handle growing populations and increasing runoff of rainwater and waste. During the 1970s and 1980s, Congress distributed more than $60 billion to cities to make sure that what goes into toilets, industrial drains and street grates would not endanger human health.
But despite those upgrades, today, many sewer systems are still frequently overwhelmed, according to a New York Times analysis of environmental data. As a result, sewage — including human excrement and dangerous industrial chemicals — is spilling into waterways.
In the last three years alone, more than 9,400 of the nation’s 25,000 sewage systems — including those in major cities — have reported violating the law by dumping untreated or partly treated human waste, chemicals and other hazardous materials into rivers and lakes and elsewhere, according to data from state environmental agencies and the Environmental Protection Agency.
You can read all of the articles in the series here. Don’t forget to check out the accompanying videos as well!
Have you ever wondered how the water that flows down the Delaware or the Schuylkill Rivers gets treated and makes it to your house? Or are you curious about where the waste you flush down the toilet or spit down the sink goes? If you answered yes, I would recommend taking a tour of the Philadelphia Water Department’s treatment plants.
TTF had the amazing opportunity to visit the Belmont Drinking Water Treatment Plant and the Southeast Pollution Control Plant to see the process by which our clean water gets to our homes and what happens to the waste that leaves our homes.
The Belmont Drinking Water Treatment Plant cleans an average of 40 million gallons of water a day to provide Philadelphians with clean drinking water — and the Southeast Pollution Control Plant, the smallest and newest of the wastewater treatment plants, cleans an average of 91 million gallons of water per day! These are incredible processes and ones that anyone can go see. All you have to do is find a group of 10 to 20 people and contact Dottie Baumgarten at dottiebaumgarten@gmail.com or Drew Brown at 215-685-6098.
Water distribution in Philadelphia began in 1801. Believe it or not, the first pipes that were used to pipe water under our streets were hollowed out trees! These wooden pipes were buried underground and connected by iron couplings. These wooden pipes are still being found today.
Water has come a long way from the untreated water that used to flow through those wooden pipes. Water now goes through a series of settling, filtration and purification processes before it arrives clean and delicious at your home.
Depending on where you live in Philadelphia, the water that comes out of your faucet in Philadelphia is either from the Delaware or the Schuylkill River. Pumps are used to get the water from the intakes to the clean water treatment facilities. From the Reservoir where the water is initially stored, gravity is used to carry the water through the treatment process.
Water is first stored for 24 hours to allow large particles to settle out. Chemicals are then added that attach to small particles in the water to remove finer sediment as well as to kill any bacteria. Sediment is removed and water is strained through a multilayer filtration system. Chemicals are added at various points in the process, and water quality and chemical concentration and Total Dissolved Solids are monitored constantly. The last chemicals to be added are chlorine to keep bacteria from contaminating the water, phosphates to reduce the corrosive power of the water and fluoride to keep teeth strong and healthy.
The wastewater treatment process, while a little less appetizing, is just as important and interesting (although I don’t recommend eating right before or after a tour!). All of the waste water from our homes is drawn by gravity down to the pollution control plants where pollutants and debris are removed before the water is released back into the Delaware River. The process by which the wastewater is cleaned mimics the natural physical and biological processes that occur through the use of microscopic organisms, but at a faster, controlled pace. This process keeps our waterways clean and enjoyable.
A big thanks for all the hard work the Philadelphia Water Department does to provide us all with clean, safe drinking water and rivers!
Check out PWD’s website to learn more about the Urban Water Cycle or take a stroll down to the site of the oldest Philadelphia Pumping Station and visit the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center.
Check out this article about our recent Model Neighborhood Van Tour in the Germantown Chronicle. Scroll down to “Innovative Water Management Techniques in NW.”
From the article:
It’s fall. The leaves are turning. It’s a perfect time for water resource tours.
At least that’s what the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford (TTF) Watershed Partnership and the Wissahickon Environmental Center figured on Sunday October 4, when they took residents around the Awbury and Cliveden neighborhoods of the Northwest to examine the innovative work being done to clean drinking water at its source – from the rain that falls out of the sky.
. . . Partly in response to pressure from groups like TTF, states and municipalities have been adopting stricter storm water maintenance laws and the ethic of helping Mother Nature clean her water and protect her streams is slowly gaining popularity.
You can click here for more information on our Model Neighborhood Van Tour. Thanks to everyone who came out to make that day such a success!
On Tuesday evening, TTF staff attended a tour of PECO’s green roof. The event was hosted by PHS Young Friends, a group designed to connect adults under the age of 40 with a common interest in sustainability and greening in the Philadelphia region.
On the tour, we heard about PECO’s stance on sustainability, the various benefits of the new green roof and PECO’s partnership with the Philadelphia Horticultural Society (PHS).
As part of PECO’s commitment to sustainability, the company considers environmental impacts in the planning of all renovations or modifications to their physical structures. Therefore, when the roof of the PECO headquarters at 23rd and Market was in need of replacement, it was decided that installing a green roof was the environmentally responsible answer.
On the tour, we learned that Philadelphia gets approximately 41 inches of rain per year. One and a half million gallons of that rain fall on the roof of the PECO headquarters. The new green roof retains between 60 and 70 percent of that rain, depending on the season. This is a huge success in the efforts to alleviate Philadelphia’s stormwater problem.
The vegetation on the roof also lowers the temperature of the roof by 60 to 80 degrees in the summer, lessens heating and cooling costs of the building and provides habitat for a variety of birds and insects. Not only does the roof target many environmental issues it also provides a beautiful space to enjoy gorgeous views of our city. Check out these incredible pictures!
For more information about stormwater and green roofs listen to this great WHYY program with Howard Neukrug. According to Howard, Philadelphia second in the nation when it comes to green roofs, right behind Chicago.
PHS will continue to work with PECO to provide educational opportunities about PECO’s sustainability efforts. If you are interested in touring the roof, check back in the spring with PHS for tour dates.
The Model Neighborhoods program is the start of PWD’s $1.6 billion, 20-year effort to clean up its troubled combined sewer overflow system and bring it in line with federal EPA mandates by 2029. But it also represents a major foray into new territory for the city utility – managing storm water not just with pipes, but with strategically-placed greenery along streets throughout Philadelphia.
Using a grass-roots nomination process guided by local community partners, in this case the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford (TTF) Watershed Partnership, Inc., based at Awbury Arboretum, the Chew-Belfield Neighborhood Association, and the various block associations of this hilly region of the Northwest, PWD found the perfect block to begin with.
“The community picked the block, we didn’t pick the block,” said PWD Engineer Amy Leib. “But it wound up working well for us.”
On Sunday, October 4th, TTF and Fairmount Park were joined by a group of dedicated citizens looking to learn about Best Management Practices for Stormwater Solutions.
After a fun, interactive activity demonstrating how a watershed works, we all set off for a tour of local stormwater management projects.
Stop 1 was the Awbury Arboretum’s bioswale near the only daylighted portion of the Wingohocking Creek. The bioswale is a set of large troughs dug in the soil parallel to Washington Lane that is lined with deep-rooted, water loving plants. Dirty street runoff flows through specially designed stormdrains into these troughs, where it is absorbed and filtered by the plants and soil.
Next, we moved onto Cliveden Park. The park’s stormwater demonstration project is a bioswale/rain garden. Water moves through these stepped troughs with the dual purposes of preventing flooding in the valley below and cleansing the dirty street runoff. (See the picture below.)
The famous Ross Street was our next stop, where we discussed the plans for the new green street and brainstormed ways to expand this project and create more model neighborhoods and model neighbors throughout the city.
The next stop was at the Waterview Recreation Center, home to one of the few large porous pavement projects in the city. While we were there we watched water flow through the porous concrete sidewalk and disappeared into the infiltration pits beds below. We also checked out their flow-through planters and street tree trenches. (See the picture below.)
For our last stop we were back to Awbury Arboretum, where we modeled our lovely rain barrel and discussed various benefits and glitches you could encounter with your very own rain barrel.
The tour was a smashing success (complete with homemade apple butter and apple cider from Fairmount Park) and we are grateful to all that were in attendance!
Sandy Bauer’s article in last week’s Philadelphia Inquirer, Breaking Ground with a 1.6 Billion Plan to Tame Water, does a fantastic job of explaining the Philadelphia Water Department’s Green City, Clean Waters Plan. Here at TTF, we are thrilled to be a partner on one of the first blocks to participate in the program: the 6300 Block of Ross Street.
Reverend Chester Williams, a great friend and partner of TTF, was quoted in the article:
“I love it,” said the Rev. Chester Williams, president of the Chew and Bellfield Neighborhood Club. In his view, what’s not to like about cleaner air, cooler houses, and prettier streets?
“We’re just praying that it moves a little faster,” he said.
