They’re fluffy. They’re playful. They’re man’s Philly Water’s best friend.  It’s that time of year again – PWD is hosting the 2014 Spokesdog Competition, so bark your calendars!

To make sure that Philadelphia’s waterways are clean, two dogs will be chosen to teach others the importance of reducing dog waste pollution. A pageant will take place in Juniata and another in Lower Moyamensing, with each having qualified judges and spokesdogs selected by online voters. Both winners will have images printed of each dog and will be used in brochures, online, etc.  In return, each pet owner and winner must attend three community events and educate other pet owners about the significance of picking up after our dogs.

Voting is in progress. Make sure to vote for your top favorite in each neighborhood before it is too late!

Just in time for summer break, the City of Philadelphia with the Trust for Public Land unveiled a new playground at William Dick Elementary on Tuesday. Residents of North Philadelphia now have the opportunity to spend their days outside at the new schoolyard located on Diamond Street near 24th.

Students opened the ribbon cutting celebration with a local rendition of Pharrell William’s “Happy” and ended it with an impressive gymnastics routine. In between, Mayor Nutter kicked off a round of acknowledgements and congratulations to all the groups responsible for remaking the asphalt parking lot into a much needed green space.

William Dick Elementary is the first Green 2015 project to finish construction. Green 2015 is a plan developed by PennPraxis and put into action by Mayor Nutter with Parks and Recreation, the Water Department, the School District and the Trust for Public Land with funding support from the William Penn Foundation. The goal of the plan is to create 500 new acres of public green space by 2015.

Students from the elementary school played an important role in redesigning the William Dick playground, choosing the play equipment, plants for the rain garden, locations for new trees and important amenities like benches. PWD constructed a rain garden to manage the stormwater runoff from the play area. During the school year, the green space will be utilized for teaching children about the importance of green infrastructure and how the rain garden helps maintain water quality. In addition to a rain garden, the playground includes benches for relaxation, spinning cups, and additional space for playing sports. The new and improved playground will be open to the public every day -- helping achieve Mayor Nutter’s vision of exposing at least 75 percent of the city’s population to green space within a 10-minute walk.

Over 80% of the energy used to heat the water in our homes & businesses goes down the drain! Starting this month, Drexel University will begin researching how we can recover some of that heat from our wastewater. Funded by the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the research will be led by principal investigator, Dr. Charles Haas of Drexel University and Paul Kohl, Energy Program Manager at PWD and a Drexel PhD candidate.  Underground, the temperature of our wastewater remains stable year round as it is insulated from the air temperature above it. This means we can use energy from our sewage to warm buildings in the winter and cool them in the summer. Drexel’s “Sewage Geothermal” research will build on existing work at the Water Department to recover  energy from our waste water. In fact, PWD installed sewage geothermal technology at our Southeast Water Pollution Control Plant in February 2012. The installation uses thermal energy to heat the plant’s compressor building and pipe gallery space, saving PWD $18,000 annually.