schuylkill river

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Flooding in Philadelphia

Flooding is nothing new for Fairmount Water Works. Since the building was first constructed more than 200 years ago, several severe floods have affected the space, including Tropical Storm Hurricane Agnes, which is recognized as Pennsylvania’s worst natural disaster. Flooding from Agnes ultimately closed Kelly Pool, which had been functioning as a desegregated pool under […]


Trash Free Waters Art Show

Come view a selection of entries from the 2023 Trash Free Waters Art Contest, organized by the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary. Artists from across the Delaware Estuary region were asked to create a piece of artwork related to the theme of Trash Free Waters. Artwork could use any medium, but had to be created […]


“TAKE ME TO THE RIVER”, A New Art Exhibit to Open at Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center on Saturday, October 28th

The Schuylkill-themed art show features work from seven local artists celebrating the river and its ability to bring the community together. Curator and artist Corinne M Dieterle offers: “The Schuylkill river has been a source of inspiration for artists, visitors, and residents since Philadelphia was founded. On any given day, hundreds of people flock along […]


Dive into Discovery: Unveiling the Spectacular New Inhabitants of Our Mussel Hatchery for the 2023 Propagation Season!

Senior Aquatic Scientist, Lance Butler and his team of student interns have completed three propagation trials so far. You may know that the life cycle of the freshwater mussel is slightly complicated. Mussel larvae called glochidia must attach to the gills of a host fish to transform into juvenile mussels. In the lab, glochidia are […]


Resilience & Humility: Words from the Executive Director

To supporters and friends, both old and new of the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center, we greatly appreciate your kind outreach, and encouraging words in the wake of Hurricane Ida, which touched ground on September 1st. Fairmount Water Works was certainly not alone as we experienced drenching rains and historic flooding that struck our region, the […]


Exploring Our Urban Watershed – River Days Event

Get to know the Schuylkill River from a brand new perspective! In a program held outside the Fairmount Water Works, and on the water, participants will explore ways the native landscape and river waters served the Lenni Lenape people and continues to serve us today. Complete a scavenger hunt of native plants used today in […]


Behind-the-scenes science continues in the Freshwater Mussel Hatchery

June 5, 2020 Although our doors are closed to the public, the science behind re-establishing our rivers mussel population continues.Through April and May, our scientists collected gravid females of two different species of freshwater mussels, Eastern Elliptio and Tidewater Mucket. Host fish were collected and acclimated in the hatchery tanks. Trout is the host fish […]


Diving into eeBLUE: Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center Partners with Concilio to Offer Watershed STEM Education

Though the Interpretive Center has been closed for months, we have continued to secure funding so that our team can continue to provide high-quality experiential learning programs for youth and young adults! We’re excited to be one of 29 environmental education organizations nationwide to be awarded a Watershed STEM Education Grant from North American Association […]


The excitement starts this month in the Freshwater Mussel Hatchery!

The cold (or not so cold) winter months have given us time to get our freshwater mussel hatchery ready for the new propagating season. Tanks and equipment are cleaned and sanitized. Equipment is built or repaired. Three brood stock tanks have been set up for the gravid female mussels (gravid means their eggs have been […]