Neighborhoods Northwest Philadelphia

A Brief History of Water in Northwest Philadelphia

Queen Lane Reservoir pumping station

Queen Lane Pumping Station, proposed design

men standing around a trench with pipes seen crossing through it. there is a steam engine on wheels behind them to the left, and a building in the background on the right with a sign they says Hotel Abbey, T G Schmidt & Sons, Pilsner & Puritan Beer.

Pipeline being laid in Wissahickon Avenue

Wheeled robotic sewer crawler in sewer pipe

Still photo from a video sewer inspection, 2000

Black-and-white image showing a factory, smokestacks and smoke, and streets

Dobson’s Mill, 1884, from History of Philadelphia by Scharf & Wescott

Map of the County of Philadelphia from Actual Survey, 1843

Outline Map of the County and City of Philadelphia and Vicinity (wd000516)

Outline Map of the County and City of Philadelphia and Vicinity, 1883

Upper Roxborough filter beds

Upper Roxborough filter beds under construction, July 1902

Leicester Knitting Mills, Charles Spencer & Co.

Charles Spencer & Co., Leicester Knitting Mills, Germantown, Philadelphia

Two bottles of water from a river, one dark with pollution and one clear after filtration

Water Before and After Roxborough

1902 photo of Upper Roxborough Filter beds under construction

Upper Roxborough Filter Bed Construction, 1902