Topics Technology & Engineering

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

Black-and-white photograph of a man in a hat standing in a brick trench

Grit Chamber, Essen, Germany

Black-and-white photo of heavy machinery

Sludge Presses for Grease Recovery, Bradford, England

Black-and-white image of a tray with three compartments and four small glass cylinders

Drain water from sludges obtained from sedimentation, septic and Emscher tanks

Black-and-white image of a refinery with smokestacks emitting smoke

A Day in the Ma’sh – Oil Refinery

Black and white photo of a man wearing a hat and standing on a bridge with his arm on a post

Wood truss drawbridge, Orthodox Street over Frankford Creek, 1899 [Detail]

Black and white photo of a low bridge over a creek

Bridge Street Draw, July 26, 1897

Philadelphia Underground, Jan. 29, 1961

“Philadelphia Underground,” Jan. 29, 1961

Color Diagram of Plan for the Collection, Purification and Disposal of the Sewage of the City of Philadelphia

PWD water tech at the Philly Home Show, 1960

PWD water tech at the Philly Home Show, 1960 (detail)

State Street pipeline construction

State Street pipeline construction, 1904

Belmont Filters construction 1903

Belmont Filters construction, 1903