A River Runs Through It: Philadelphia Water Skiing + Skateboarding from Jon Graham on Vimeo.

With just a few more hours in 2014, it’s time to reflect back a little on all of the great things that we’ve experienced over the past year and make our plans for 2015. A few days ago we stumbled upon the video above created by local filmmaker Jon Graham and it’s so cool that we had to share! Seeing people enjoy the Schuylkill River—strolling on the new 2,000 foot long Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk, skating at Paine’s Park, waterskiing, boating, kayaking and more—is very gratifying. At PWD, we’re proud of the role we played in helping to make 2014 such a successful year for our rivers, our water and our city.  

Whether it’s our own Schuylkill River being named Pennsylvania’s 2014 River of the Year or seeing the endangered shortnose sturgeon return to the Schuylkill, 2014 was a tremendously successful year for the health of our rivers. 

We were fortunate to be a part of a great collaboration with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation and the Manayunk community that resulted in the opening of the Venice Island Performing Arts and Recreation Center. This project showed how green storm water infrastructure and a PWD stormwater storage basin unit can be seamlessly interwoven into a great neighborhood and citywide amenity. We also named our first Stormwater Pioneer and gave $8.25 million to businesses for green stormwater management practices on private property through our SMIP and GARP programs. 

And we’re especially proud of award after award after award being brought home by many of PWD’s staff. And we have to give a shout out to our 2014 Philadelphia Water Department Spokesdog Winners who help us reduce the amount of pet waste that ends up in our rivers! 

As we look ahead to 2015 (here’s our spin on the common resolutions to eat better and exercise more), we suggest you resolve to: 

1. Get outside and experience every single one of the city’s waterways and the great things to do on their banks. Whether it’s waterskiing or kayaking on the Schuylkill or running and biking alongside it; taking in another pop-up park along the Delaware; or hiking along the Wissahickon, Pennypack, Poquessing, Cobbs, Tookany/Tacony-Frankford, you’ll get exercise and relieve stress by being near the water.  

2. Drink tap water! Philadelphia’s drinking water continues to be among the nation’s cleanest, safest and most reliable. We resolve to continue that in 2015 so you can resolve to get your 8 glasses (at least!) per day and at an affordable cost. The cost of 50 glasses of water here in Philadelphia is less than a penny!

3. Do your part to keep pollution out of Philadelphia's rivers and streams.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Happy Birthday, Safe Water Drinking Act!
You truly are getting better with age!

On December 16, 1974, President Gerald R. Ford signed Washington Democratic Senator Warren Magnuson’s Senate Bill 433 into law creating Public Law 93-523: the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The law went into effect the next day and authorized the EPA “to set national health-based standards for drinking water to protect against both naturally-occurring and man-made contaminants that may be found in drinking water.”

The law has been amended twice (1986 and 1996) to include many actions that protect drinking water and the rivers, lakes, reservoirs, springs and wells that supply it. As part of our compliance with the EPA’s regulations, PWD produces an annual Drinking Water Quality Report  and maintains a Source Water Protection Program that has made our Delaware and Schuylkill watersheds cleaner now than they have been in over a century! Of course we still face many challenges to keeping our rivers and drinking water clean, but, hey, it’s what we love to do!

Most of us don’t give a second thought when we put our glass under our tap and fill it with water. And that’s true whether we’re taking that drink here in Philadelphia or in a hotel in Hawaii or a campground in Alaska. Aside from very rare instances (and for PWD customers, so rare to be virtually non-existent), the water from our tap can be trusted to be clean and safe, in part, because of compliance with the SDWA and the billions of dollars of infrastructure investment that keeping in compliance has required. That we can take our tap for granted is even more amazing when you consider how many parts of the world—for lack of funding, dysfunctional governments, or natural shortages—spend a major part of their daily lives finding drinkable water.

To hear PWD Commissioner Neukrug's interview on WHYY's RadioTimes about the Safe Drinking Water Act, click here.

Did you know....

• In Philadelphia the cost of 50 glasses of water is less than a penny!
• PWD monitors Philadelphia's water 24/7 at three treatment and at checkpoints throughout our delivery system.
• It's estimated that 25% to 40% of all bottled water is taken from the municpal water supply. 
• There is more fresh water in the atmosphere than in all of the rivers on the planet combined.
• 75% of a chicken, 80% of a pineapple, and 95% of a tomato is water.
• It is possible for people today to drink water that was part of the dinosaur era!

To celebrate, raise a glass of cool, delicious (and safe) tap water (or eight ten-ounce glasses if you want to get the 2.5 quarts the EPA recommends you drink to “maintain health”) and read up on what YOU can do as an individual to help US keep your drinking water clean and safe.

Photo credit: Bill Kelly
sources: Philadelphia Water Department, EPA water trivia page, EPA's Drinking Water Facts and Figures

“You don’t get a chance very often in life to be a pioneer at anything,” noted Stanley’s True Value Hardware President Mark Jaconski, who with his brother Joe was honored as Philadelphia’s first Stormwater Pioneer. “Our father and grandfather pioneered the business.  We’re just doing our part to help the environment,” he explained, as dozens of customers, employees, neighbors, Philadelphia Water Department executives, City Council representatives and community members applauded their efforts.

Stanley’s Hardware was recognized for excellence in stormwater management and the site will be a model for business owners and private developers who want to reduce runoff from their properties. PWD and the Jackonskis unveiled a Stormwater Pioneers plaque for the property and the brothers were presented with a City Council Citation by Josh Cohen of Councilman Curtis Jones’ office. 

The ceremony, covered by both Newsworks and the Roxborough Review of Montgomery Media, also recognized Ruggiero Plante Land Design in Manayunk for designing the stormwater management strategy. It includes a highly-visible rain garden adjacent to the store’s parking lot and two underground infiltration basins. Together, the system manages over 3,000 cubic feet of runoff.

The Jaconski brothers built a new store on the site of their family’s 66-year old business, tripling its size and doubling both the business and the staff. The business goals established for year 10 have been achieved in year two. 

Case in point, according to Jim Evans, owner of nearby Bob’s Diner, the Jaconski brothers are an inspiration to other business owners on Ridge Avenue. “When I saw what they did on their property, I decided to plant vegetation to do my part for the environment and the neighborhood.”

For more information, visit PWD’s Stormwater Pioneers webpage.