Kianna Bingham sat in the boat as it scraped along the river under the South Street Bridge. To her left, the Schuylkill Banks boardwalk stretched out, and the towering skyscrapers of University City and Center City seemed to hover behind it.
This is the first time I’ve seen the river like this, said Bingham, a community organizer for Council Member Jamie Gauthier. That’s wonderful. I see so many opportunities for water activities. I grew up in the district and would never have dreamed of getting on a boat to see it. I just think how much fun this is. It is a completely different view of the city.
Last week, a consortium of environmental advocacy groups and City Council representatives boarded two small motorboats to explore the potential for recreation in the Schuylkill Tidal, particularly in the section below Fairmount Dam. As heavy industry has retreated, the riverbanks have been opened up to paths, fishing piers and gates.
The groups hope that one day the river will be clean enough for daily paddling and perhaps even suitable for swimming, a goal of the federal Clean Water Act.
As the boats chugged upriver, they passed fishermen fishing from piers, runners on the Schuylkill River Trail, and others relaxing in parks along the river. However, in some isolated spots, the smell of sewage clung to the surface of the waters like a wet carpet.
Diluted sewage
The Schuylkill, once plagued by chemical discharges from factories, plants and refineries along its banks, has made significant strides toward recovery thanks to regulations under the Clean Water Act in the 1970s.
But even with improvements, all waterways in Philadelphia currently remain off limits for swimming and bathing except during organized events such as triathlons due to the risk of bacterial infections, drowning hazards, fish hooks and strong currents.
Even paddling in the river is restricted for many days due to high bacteria levels.
The ongoing pollution stems primarily from stormwater runoff flooding the Philadelphia Water Departments (PWD) aging sewer system. Each year, an estimated 14 billion gallons of untreated sewage and rainwater are discharged into the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, as well as Cobbs, Frankford, Tacony and Pennypack Creeks. While this output does not directly threaten drinking water, which undergoes treatment before it reaches residents, poses health risks to those who go out into the river.
At the heart of the issue lies Philadelphia’s combined sewer system, where stormwater and sewage share the same pipes during storms. This volume overload strains the city’s three treatment plants, leading to untreated water flowing through 164 combined sewer overflows (CSOs) into waterways. The combined sewer system serves approximately 60% of the city.
Camden and Chester City, both located across the river, face the same CSO system.
More severe storms, more challenges
Chloe Wang, river program manager at Bartrams Garden, located along the riverbanks, coordinates free kayaking and fishing programs for thousands of visitors.
But we end up canceling about a quarter of our water programs each year in an effort to keep our guests safe from combined sewer spills, Wang said.
PWDs RiverCast website updates Schuylkill recreational users on how clear the non-tidal river above Fairmount Dam is on a given day, but not the tidal segment that runs from the dam to the Delaware River.
Council member Mark Squilla thinks the overflows can be reduced, but it will take a lot of effort.
We should be able to access our rivers, Squilla said. The rivers are cleaner than 10 years ago, even 20 years ago. But when you throw 14 billion liters of sewage into the river every year, it’s hard to get to the point where it’s clean enough to recreate.
Squilla and advocates praise the Philadelphia Water Department for its planned improvements to its plants and its Green City Clean Rivers program, which consists of installing infrastructure such as rain gardens, rain barrels, trees, plants and other natural features designed to reduce storm water runoff. The program reduces stormwater runoff by 3 billion gallons per year.
Introduced in 2011, the Green City program aimed to significantly reduce pollution by 2036. But environmentalists say climate change has shifted the targets. due to stronger storms. So as the city struggles to keep stormwater from flowing into rivers, the sheer volume of water continues to rise.
A collaboration of non-profit organizations, called the River Restoration Action Team, thinks the PWD should do more. Nick Pagon of the nonprofit Riverways said his analysis shows the 14 billion gallons a year of raw sewage mixed with stormwater flowing into the tidal Delaware and Schuylkill rivers is actually more than when PWD started the plan. its reduction.
READ MORE: 15 billion gallons of polluted sewage flow into Philly’s rivers and streams each year, report says
Co-op members say they recognize the large amount of money that would be needed to replace the city’s extensive network of underground pipes and upgrade treatment plants. They are hoping for more federal funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure and Inflation Reduction Acts, which contain billions of dollars for water treatment improvements.
A river of hope
Philadelphia is a river city, said Tim Dillingham, executive director of the nonprofit American Littoral Society, a coastal conservation organization. We have done the river a disservice by turning our backs on it. I don’t want to be overly dramatic, but it acts as an open drain.
Andrew Kricun, managing director of Moonshot Missions, a non-profit organization that provides technical assistance to water utilities, suggested that the PWD should turn to nets that trap solids near leaks. Kricun said the nets are lifted and cleaned. They have had success elsewhere, he said.
However, Brian Rademaekers, a spokesman for the water department, said the agency had already tried a pilot program for smaller sewer outlets, but found the nets required too much maintenance after tree limbs were torn off. Most of the litter consisted of leaves, bottles, cans and litter rather than sewage.
The PWD, instead, said it plans to stick with using skimmer boats to remove floating debris and plastic. A crew of one such boat stopped to chat with environmentalists as they toured the river. Each skimmer collects 1.1 tonnes of plastic per year.
Don Baugh, president of the nonprofit Upstream Alliance, however, said that despite the challenges, efforts to combat pollution are making a difference.
The Schuylkill has made a historic recovery and is now more than a river of hope, Baugh said. It has come to life for fish, birds, turtles, mussels and for the people who recreate in and around it. We are close to declaring victory as a fully rejuvenated river once we solve this pesky sewage issue.
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