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PhillyWatersheds.org
NOTICE: PhillyWatersheds.org has been archived.

The archive will be available at http://archive.phillywatersheds.org for approximately one year (through September 2020). If you use or are responsible for content here that is not yet available elsewhere, please contact the PWD Digital Team.

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11 For 2011: The Media Sends the Message

Dec 28, 2011
posted in

PWD's Watersheds blog closes out the year with a list of 11 green missions accomplished in 2011, from innovative stormwater management projects and stream restorations to groundbreaking policy agreements and energy-generating solar arrays.

When it comes to spreading the word about Green City, Clean Waters—Philadelphia's 25-year plan to protect and enhance our watersheds largely through green infrastructure—PWD had a lot of help in 2011. The innovative plan and the beginning of its implementation drew attention from many different corners of the media universe: print and online publications concerned with science, technology, finance, ecology, urban planning and straight-up news all weighed in. 

A complete 2011 press roundup would be lengthy (not to mention immodest), but here are a handful of articles highlighting Green City, Clean Waters activities:

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11 For 2011: Percy Street Porous Paving

Dec 27, 2011
posted in

PWD's Watersheds blog closes out the year with a list of 11 green missions accomplished in 2011, from innovative stormwater management projects and stream restorations to groundbreaking policy agreements and energy-generating solar arrays.

In June, the city's first porous street debuted in South Philadelphia. The 800 block of Percy Street is just six feet wide, but the replacement of traditional impervious asphalt with a porous surface has already had a big impact: During Hurricane Irene, monitoring at Percy Street indicated that stormwater runoff infiltrated into the ground instead of flowing into the sewer system. Keeping stormwater out of Philadelphia's combined sewers reduces overflows of sewage and stormwater into our rivers and streams and protects our drinking-water supply.

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11 For 2011: Hunting Park Tree Trenches and Planters

Dec 26, 2011
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PWD's Watersheds blog closes out the year with a list of 11 green missions accomplished in 2011, from innovative stormwater management projects and stream restorations to groundbreaking policy agreements and energy-generating solar arrays.

The slideshow above shows the progress of the stormwater tree trenches and stormwater planters near the intersection of Hunting Park and Castor Avenues. The two tree trenches and seven planters are designed to capture up to 40,000 cubic feet of runoff from surrounding streets, or an estimated total drainage area of 40,000 square feet.

Stormwater planters and tree trenches are soil-water-plant systems that intercept runoff, infiltrate a portion of it into the ground, evaporate a portion into the air, and in some cases release a portion of it slowly back into the sewer system. Reducing or slowing the amount of stormwater that enters our sewers helps protect the rivers and streams that supply Philadelphia's drinking water by preventing combined sewer overflows.

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11 For 2011: Green Roof Bus Shelter

Dec 25, 2011
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PWD's Watersheds blog closes out the year with a list of 11 green missions accomplished in 2011, from innovative stormwater management projects and stream restorations to groundbreaking policy agreements and energy-generating solar arrays.


View of City Hall from the green roof bus shelter

Merry Christmas—and remember that good things come in small packages. Such is the case for PWD's green roof bus shelter demonstration project at 15th and Market streets. It's only 60 square feet, but its debut in June showed the city that green stormwater management can happen one small space at a time. We hope this project inspires Philadelphia residents to undertake their own green projects at home.

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11 For 2011: PWD vs. Hurricane Irene

Dec 24, 2011
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PWD's Watersheds blog closes out the year with a list of 11 green missions accomplished in 2011, from innovative stormwater management projects and stream restorations to groundbreaking policy agreements and energy-generating solar arrays.


The swollen Schuylkill River at the Fairmount Dam

Hurricane Irene blew through Philadelphia on August 28, causing flooding in low-lying areas. The Philadelphia Water Department worked to minimize the damage as much as possible, and here are some statistics on our performance:

  • PWD wastewater treatment plants received almost 1 billion gallons of stormwater, more than twice their normal volume, and maintained performance.
  • PWD cleared 400 inlets in proactive preparation for Irene, and that number—along with the help of citizens—is, according to Mayor Nutter, "a great part of why we didn't have as much flooding as we could have possibly had." 
  • More than 55 PWD employees worked over the weekend to answer calls and pump out flooded basements. 
  • The Schuylkill and Delaware rivers crested at 13.5 ft. and 9.77 ft., respectively, in Philadelphia.
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11 For 2011: Queen Lane Bumpouts

Dec 23, 2011
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PWD's Watersheds blog closes out the year with a list of 11 green missions accomplished in 2011, from innovative stormwater management projects and stream restorations to groundbreaking policy agreements and energy-generating solar arrays.

Philadelphia's first stormwater bumpouts debuted this summer on Queen Lane in East Falls. Stormwater bumpouts are just one of PWD's green stormwater infrastructure tools to reduce runoff and prevent combined sewer overflows into our rivers and streams. Runoff from the street is diverted into these landscaped curb extensions, where it infiltrates into the soil instead of entering our storm sewers. Aside from managing stormwater, bumpouts also help to calm traffic, and when located at crosswalks they keep pedestrians safer by reducing the street crossing distance.

Each bumpout is custom designed on a site-by-site basis; the six Queen Lane structures are each 8 feet deep and range in length from 24 feet to 80 feet (the bumpout pictured above measures 8' by 60'). Each bumpout is planted with a mix of native grasses, perennials and trees, and the entire system manages the first inch of runoff from an acre of drainage area. That means these bumpouts manage between 800,000 and 900,000 gallons of runoff each year.

View PWD's in-design bumpouts and other green infrastructure projects on the Big Green Map.

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11 For 2011: Venice Island Groundbreaking

Dec 22, 2011
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PWD's Watersheds blog closes out the year with a list of 11 green missions accomplished in 2011, from innovative stormwater management projects and stream restorations to groundbreaking policy agreements and energy-generating solar arrays.

On Nov. 1, city officials broke ground on Venice Island in Manayunk, the site of a $46 million project whose main component is a large underground storage basin that will prevent stormwater runoff from entering the Schuylkill River. The basin has the capacity to store 4 million gallons of water, and some speculate that it could have prevented flooding near Main Street and Shurs Lane during Hurricane Irene. But there's plenty more to be excited about, including the construction of a new performance arts center, a sprayground and larger basketball courts. The hockey rink and 3,200-square-foot playground currently on the site will be replaced one-for-one.

For more information, check out our Venice Island web page.

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11 For 2011: Eadom Street Depaving

Dec 21, 2011
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PWD's Watersheds blog closes out the year with a list of 11 green missions accomplished in 2011, from innovative stormwater management projects and stream restorations to groundbreaking policy agreements and energy-generating solar arrays.

Philadelphia's first depaving project got underway this year at Eadom and Bridge Streets—located just west of I-95 in Frankford. PWD's Waterways Restoration Team coordinated with neighborhood volunteers to depave a portion of the parking lot and install and plant the first of six rain gardens planned for the site in April. In November, 18 volunteers from PWD planted three additional rain gardens. Once completed, the Eadom Street Project will convert 10,000 square feet of impervious
concrete to rain gardens that allow stormwater to infiltrate the soil instead of flowing into our sewers. Not only do green infrastructure projects such as rain gardens help protect our waterways and beautify the neighborhood, they also reduce stormwater bills for property owners. In all, the Eadom Street project will manage stormwater runoff from two acres.

Click here to download a rendering of the finished parking lot. (875 KB PDF)

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