Water “works”: Philadelphia Water Department releases report & its impact in 2020

Image courtesy: Southwest CDC Globe Times

The numbers are impressive.

In a year in which nearly every city-run agency felt both the physical and financial strain caused the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was a year in which the Philadelphia Water Department thrived.

Recently, PWD commissioner Randy E. Hayman highlighted the work the agency was able to accomplish over the course of the year on its Philly H2O blog – and the numbers are surprising, given the times.

In December, PWD spokesperson Laura Copeland told Green Philly that the agency needed to use dollars from its emergency fund to support its efforts of ensuring the nearly 200 million gallons of clean drinking water it provided the region remained up to standards. Additionally, much of that money was used to retain PWD staff, respond to emergency projects, and more – all while granting an extended moratorium until April 1 for residents experiencing difficulty affording services due to the pandemic.

Here’s a look at Philly Water by the numbers:

15,000

The number of households in 2020 that received assistance from PWD, many of assistance needs to prevent shut-offs or to restore services directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

500,000

The number of calls PWD says its customer service lines took in to answer questions, schedule maintenance, providing billing assistance and more.

5.6 miles

The number of miles of sewer upgrades and other infrastructure which roughly represented about 67 blocks of new pipeline switched out from plumbing in some areas that are over a century old.

$131.6 million

The number of dollars spent to ensure both new wastewater infrastructure and green stormwater improvements. Specifically, this funding paved the way for 80 green stormwater projects, feeding directly into PWD’s Green City, Clean Waters initiative, designed to reduce the amount of sewage and other waste that flows into the watershed and for the protection of rivers.

120

The number of projects PWD is preparing to break ground on in 2021 due to conversations and support from both public and private engineers, city planners and other city and state officials.

For the full list and to learn more, visit: water.phila.gov/blog/.

Kerith Gabriel

Kerith Gabriel started out as a sports writer over a decade ago for the Philadelphia Daily News. He left sports to focus on issues that deeply affect Philadelphians but really, he just loves telling a good story, regardless of genre. When he’s not prowling for a story, you can most likely find him playing soccer at Penn Park, or doing the dad thing around town. Email him at kerith.a.gabriel@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter via @sprtswtr.