Keeping the Bargain - Investing in Infrastructure Part II

PWD Repairs a Water Main 

If you’ve been reading the news over the past several months, you may have noticed a bit of a pattern with the weather we’ve been having. Whether it was Hurricane Irene in 2011 or Super Storm Sandy in 2012, some pretty intense weather events have been walloping us lately.

The flooding that comes as a result of these increasingly intense rainstorms adds to the strain on Philadelphia’s combined storm and wastewater system. These storms can overwhelm many of the older pipes and tunnels in the City and add significant costs to repair and replacement. While our Green City, Clean Waters program aims to relieve a great deal of that stress, we are still faced with the necessity of repairing and replacing pipes that have been around for a century. Given that one of the effects of global climate change is an overall increase in the frequency and intensity of these storms, we are trying to prepare the system by keeping our traditional infrastructure in good repair and building new green infrastructure.

We’d love to continue this discussion about global climate change and its effects on our local infrastructure. Chat us up at PWD's Facebook page, to share any relevant links or stories.