PhillyWatersheds.org

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Brilliant! A Free Giveaway: Two Tickets to the Flower Show

Mar 4, 2013

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News Stream. Water Use

Flower Show

Take a trip to Britain without leaving Philadelphia! Win a free ticket to the PHS Philadelphia Flower Show by filling out this entry form and verify your entry by liking PWD on Facebook or following us on Twitter. We have two tickets to give away, and will announce the winner of our random auction on Wednesday morning, March 6th by e-mailing the winners.

While you’re exploring the gardens of our mother country, be sure to stop by PWD’s exhibit focusing on sustainable infrastructure. Our kid-friendly theme, the Power of Poop, explains how the Water Department is converting sewage into energy. Currently under construction, PWD’s biogas cogeneration facility will take gas produced from the breakdown of sewage and convert it into electricity to produce 85% of the energy required to power the Northeast Water Pollution Control Plant.

Don’t forget to pick up free packets of sunflower seeds to support the Great Sunflower Project.

The Flower Show runs every day through Sunday, March 10th at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, 12th & Arch Streets.

Cheerio!

It’s a Wrap! Congratulations to our Rain Barrel Artists

Feb 28, 2013

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With over 800 votes, the results for our Rain Barrel Wrap contest are in! Congratulations to the top three winners: Philly Pride, Cats and Dogs and Liquid Motion.

Students between the ages of 11 and 21 from Laura W. Waring School and YESPhilly participated in a design workshop with artists from the Mural Arts Program and educators from Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center and the Philadelphia Water Department to create exciting original artwork that will be wrapped around a limited number of rain barrels. We hope this artwork will help bring attention to small actions in stormwater management (like installing a rain barrel) that can make a big difference.

Thanks to everybody who voted to help select the top three student designs. You are invited to the Fairmount Waterworks Interpretive Center for the Water Department and Mural Arts dedication where we’ll recognize the winning artists. The dedication is scheduled for Thursday, March 14th at 4:00 p.m. right behind the Museum of Art on the Schuylkill River in the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center at 640 Water Works Drive. Please send RSVPs to jameson.paige@muralarts.org.

Philly Pride by Titus Edwards (YES Philly)

Philly Pride

Titus’ idea for this design came from a classroom conversation about pride in Philadelphia. For him, pride in the City comes from the people in his community. He chose the typical rowhomes of ordinary people as a symbol of Philadelphia community pride.

Cats and Dogs, a class collaboration

This design is a playful interpretation of the old saying, “It’s raining cats and dogs!” Students created a whimsical image by using bold colors and drawing a variety of cats and dogs.

Liquid Motion, a class collaboration

For this design, students chose blues and greens to represent water. They mixed these colors with glue, let them dry and photographed them against a light, giving the photographs a water-like translucency.

Summer Internship in GSI Implementaion Program

Feb 25, 2013

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Apply now for a Summer 2013 Internship in our Green Stormwater Infrastructure Implementation Program!

photo credit: Paul Rider

Seeking highly qualified students for experiences in the following academic departments: Landscape Architecture, Engineering, Engineering Technician, Planning, Urban Design

Description: Interns will work closely with Green Stormwater Infrastructure Implementation Program Staff. This group executes both planning and design coordination for GSI projects on public lands such as vacant lands, schools, parks, streets, parking lots, and facilities.

To learn more about the position and apply, click here.

Applications are due this Thursday, February 28th!

Tired of Dumping?

Feb 21, 2013

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PWD pulling tires from the river

311. That’s the number of tires PWD’s Waterways Restoration Team pulled out of Frankford Creek in early February. The Waterways Restoration Team is dedicated to cleaning up and protecting Philadelphia’s streams, which often means pulling illegally dumped tires, construction site waste, shopping carts and the occasional car, out of our waterways. Additionally, the Waterways Restoration Team helps to stabilize eroding creek banks, remove invasive plants and protect City infrastructure. Cleaning up our waterways improves the City’s valuable water resources: the streams we walk, run and bike along and the water we drink! Want to help? Join the effort to clean up Tacony-Frankford Creek by contacting the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership and sign up for an upcoming cleanup led by United By Blue.

A Kickstart for Green Infrastructure

Feb 20, 2013

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Photo Credit: PlanPhilly

Innovative green stormwater infrastructure will help breathe new life into the historic Cynwyd Train Station! The Lower Merion Historical Society is working to raise money over the next month for a new multipurpose stormwater harvesting system for the 125-year old train station. They’ve chosen Kickstarter as their fundraising tool—a website that allows individuals to make direct contributions to creative projects.

Five years ago, the Historical Society began a program to refurbish Cynwyd Station, built in 1890 by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Although the station building is no longer used by Septa, once renovated, the site will be a trailhead with bathrooms and refreshments for the Cynwyd Heritage Trail, a walking and biking pathway.

The biggest challenge in renovating the building is the waterlogged basement. The station’s current downspouts deposit rainwater too close to the building’s foundation, causing water to soak into the lower level.

North Street Design responded to the Historical Society’s dilemma with a pro-bono design for a combination stormwater tank, downspout planter and bench system for Cynwyd Station. The system will match the station’s aesthetics, manage rain water and serve as a seating area.

While North Street is covering the design and installation costs of the stormwater system, the Historical Society needs your help covering supply costs. Through the Kickstarter website, the Society has about three weeks to raise about $2,000 in donations. They are already over half-way to their $5,000 goal! Help support this innovative project and learn more details about the plan by visiting the Kickstarter page. In exchange for a donation, the Historical Society is offering free memberships, guided tours and rain garden workshops.

You're Invited…Infill Philadelphia: Soak It Up! Design Awards Ceremony

Feb 19, 2013

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The Philadelphia Water Department and Community Design Collaborative invite you to the Design Awards Ceremony concluding the Infill Philadelphia: Soak It Up! design competition. This national, interdisciplinary design competition challenged designers, engineers, and other sustainability professionals to show how green stormwater infrastructure can transform our City.

The design competition is part of Infill Philadelphia: Soak It Up!—an 18-month partnership between the Philadelphia Water Department, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Community Design Collaborative to revitalize urban neighborhoods through the adoption of green stormwater management in the Philadelphia region. These methods are outlined in Green City, Clean Waters, Philadelphia’s $2 billion, 25-year plan to protect and enhance the City’s waterways by managing stormwater primarily through innovative green stormwater infrastructure.

After a reception and an exhibition of competition entries in the Hall of Dinosaurs at the Academy of Natural Sciences, we’ll move to the auditorium for rapid-fire presentations by the nine finalists. Three winning teams will be chosen by a jury to receive $10,000 prizes. Proceeds from the Design Awards benefit the Collaborative’s Infill Philadelphia program. Reserve your spot!

Infill Philadelphia: Soak It Up! Design Competition Awards

Thursday, March 7, 2013

6 PM to 9 PM

Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University

1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA

One more… with ENERGY

Feb 15, 2013

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News Stream

Geothermal at Southeast

These pipes are part of the geothermal system at the Southeast Water Pollution Control Plant.

We wrap up the week with exciting cost savings measures at our Water Pollution Control Plants.

Since the cost of energy is one of the driving forces behind our overall expense increases, we have sought to reduce the amount of energy we use, and to produce it ourselves from renewable sources. The Northeast Water Pollution Control Plant (NEWPCP) Biogas Project will generate electricity and thermal energy for use on-site, fueled mainly by biogas from the plant's digesters. This project is designed to generate 5.6 MW of power and is expected to reduce PWD’s energy costs by over $12 million over the course of the 16-year contract with renewable energy company Ameresco, Inc.

At our Southeast Water Pollution Control Plant, we’ve installed a 250 kW solar array (in addition to a geothermal project) expected to pay-off its entire installation cost in just nine years. And get this: the Federal Government paid for half of it! The project was made possible by $850,000 from the Recovery Act’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant awarded to the City from the Department of Energy (DOE) and $850,000 from PWD and technical assistance from DOE’s Solar America Cities program. After nine years… nothing but nice, clean, solar-generated electricity.

PWD remains committed to keeping our own costs low so that any rate adjustments we request are as reasonable and low as possible for our customers. These are just the first of what we hope will be many similar efforts in the future to lower our dependence on fossil fuels, contribute to a healthier environment, and lower our costs for energy. Look for more information about our waste-to-energy measures at PWD’s exhibit at the Philadelphia Flower Show, Saturday March 2nd through Sunday March 10th.

Not (quite) as romantic as a dozen roses…

Feb 14, 2013

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News Stream

This Valentine’s Day we are focusing on the Rate Stabilization Fund (get excited)! It might not be as romantic as a dozen roses, but it is very important for our customers. The Rate Stabilization Fund is one of the ways we keep our costs as low as possible. We do this so that increased expenses or drops in revenue aren’t always passed directly on to our customers and our rate adjustments can be kept lower. One of our goals over the time period covered by our new rate schedule is to build up the Rate Stabilization Fund. Considering the weather we have had lately and the pressure it puts on our infrastructure, ours is more literally a “rainy day fund” than similar accounts kept by any other government or private sector entity. Happy Valentine's Day!