History of Philadelphia’s Sewers and Waterways (Preservation Alliance)

As we walk around the city of Philadelphia, few of us think about the streams that once meandered across the city. Adam Levine presents a fascinating illustrated lecture that will uncover part of the city’s history that few people ever think about – the drastic changes made in the urban landscape since the city’s founding in 1682. Levine has been digging into the history of the city’s sewers and drainage systems since 1998. His talk will focus on the systematic obliteration of hundreds of miles of city streams, some of which had watersheds that covered thousands of acres. These streams were buried deep underground in pipes as large as 20 feet in diameter which now serve as main drainage arteries in the city’s 3,000 mile sewer system. The combined flow of sewage and stormwater in these pipes, which periodically overflow, has environmental repercussions that are still being dealt with today – not only in Philadelphia, but in any older city with a similar sewer system. This lecture is guaranteed to reveal a side of urban infrastructure you have never seen, and change the way you think about cities.