Subjects Water Supply

Pipes, distribution mains, transmission mains, filtration plants, pumping stations, and all other appurtenances, either above or underground, that relate to providing drinking water to homes and businesses. In tandem with sewer systems, properly-designed water supply systems are what make densely-populated urban areas possible.

Fairmount Water Works: The Surprising History of an American Landmark

Two views on the water supply, 1939

Fairmount Water Works in High Resolution

Ghosts of Water in Fairmount Park, Part 1, with Adam Levine

Rebirth of the Rivers: Water History Video 3

Sandy Run Watershed and the Holmesburg Water Works

Map Lover’s Monday: Fairmount Park, 1869

Photograph of Roberts Mill on Wingohocking Creek in Germantown, built in the late 17th century. (Photograph by J. C. Browne, 1871. Castner Collection/Free Library of Philadelphia)

Roberts Mill, Wingohocking Creek, 1871

Fairmount Water Works (Picturesque America)

Wire Bridge at Fairmount

Schuylkill Navigation lock at Fairmount (Picturesque America)

Dobson FLP

You would not have wanted to drink it: Philadelphia’s water supply in 1884

Newspaper Clipping Scrapbooks of Frederic Graff Jr.,Chief Engineer of the Philadelphia Water Department: Part 1, 1854-1857