Topics Streams & Rivers

Several people stand atop the Aramingo Sewer during construction, June 7, 1900

Creek to Sewer: Water History Video 1

Laboratory Alkalinity test, ca. 1943

Making It Safe to Drink: Water History Video 2

Rebirth of the Rivers: Water History Video 3

Black-and-white aerial photo of a creek bend with industrial buildings surrounding it

The Sad History of Frankford Creek

William Penn balks at drinking the "mixed drink" offered him: Schuylkill water, mixed with pollution from the upstream sources named. Editorial cartoon by Fred Morgan, Philadelphia Inquirer, April 6, 1899. One of a series of cartoons drawn by Morgan protesting the state of the city's drinking water and trying to encourage the passage of legislation authorizing the construction of a water filtration system.

Half a Century of Clean Water