Fairmount Water Works

Watershed Wednesdays at the Fairmount Water Works
2021-08-11 10:00 - 11:30, 2021-08-18 10:00 - 11:30 (America/New_York) | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
We will get to know the Schuylkill River by exploring various watershed topics through hands on activities, games and art projects.
Suitable for ages 5 and up. Children must be accompanied by a parent/guardian.
Advance registration required.
Sign up for one session or sign up for them all!
All sessions are 10am-11:30am.
Email educator stacey.heffernan@phila.gov for more information.
July 28 – Life in a Drop of River Water: Use our iPad with a microscope attachment to discover the microscopic life in a sample of water taken from the Schuylkill River. Try to identify the little creatures and create drawings to take home.
August 4 – FWW Version of Gyotaku: Long ago, fishermen in Japan created gyotaku prints to record their prized catches and create art. Bring a white t-shirt for your printed fish creation! Learn about the different species of fish that call the Schuylkill River home.
August 11 – Plant Life in the City: We will randomly select varied sites to identify and compare the variety of plant life in a grassy area. Compare plants in a manicured area to plants that grow in a less managed site. Learn how to mount a plant to make an herbarium specimen to take home.
August 18 – Silt Island Plants and Animals: Learn to use binoculars and participate in a scavenger hunt on the Boardwalk. Discover all the different birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles that live in our area. Bring a notebook from home and try your hand at nature journaling.
Photos will be taken of participants during this program for use by Fairmount Water Works and/or the Philadelphia Water Department. If you wish to opt out, please let us know before the program.

Exploring Our Urban Watershed
2021-09-04 10:30 - 15:30 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
Join Fairmount Water Works and Schuylkill River Development Corporation in exploring the Schuylkill River in a program both on land and on the water!
We start at Fairmount Water Works and move through 3 hands-on activities: creating a mural of the historic Schuylkill River, examining microscopic life in a drop of river water and engaging in a native plant scavenger hunt.
After a brief lunch break (bring your own), we will hike down the Schuylkill River Trail (about 1 mile) to the Walnut Street Dock, where kayaks await. Hidden River Outfitters will give a brief orientation to paddling and then we’ll get into our kayaks and out on the river!
This program is geared towards families with youth ages 12 and up. (12 years is the minimum age allowed).
All participants must sign a kayak waiver, and participants aged 12-18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian who will need to sign the minor’s kayak waiver.
A bus will be available at Walnut Street to take participants back to FWW instead of walking back, if desired.
Space is limited; 18-person maximum. Advance registration required. Minimum age is 12.
In registering for this program, you agree to the following:

Wear a face mask that covers your nose and mouth at all times.
Maintain six feet of distance between yourself and others not in your group.
Answer a set of questions regarding your COVID exposure the morning of the program. This can be done online.
Take a survey at the end of the program.

Email stacey.heffernan@phila.gov, Environmental Education Planner, FWWIC, for more information.

River Days 2021
2021-10-02 11:00 - 14:00 | The Discovery Center, 3401 Reservoir Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19121, United States
Enjoy hands-on activities for families throughout the day, plus a live performance conducted by the Cultural Heritage Fund Group, comprised of citizens of the Nanticoke Lenni Lenape tribe and presented by the Lenapehoking~Watershed, a place for water, art and culture.
Lenape performance/presentation starts at 1pm!
Space is limited, so be sure to secure a space for you and your family today!
Note:
Hurricane Ida is the second storm in recent FWW history that’s caused flooding of this magnitude. We understand that climate change is responsible for the intense storms we’ve experienced.
Due to extreme flooding at the Interpretive Center, this event will be held at The Discovery Center (, Phila., PA 19121).

POOL Opening / World Water Day
2022-03-22 12:00 - 17:00 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
POOL weaves together history, site-specific artwork, storytelling, scholarship and place-based learning.
The exhibit installations build on one another to illuminate a history of segregated swimming in America, and its connection to present-day drowning issues affecting Black communities.
Open Wednesdays – Fridays, 12pm – 5pm and Saturdays, 10am – 5pm.

POOL Exhibition
2022-03-23 - 2022-10-08 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States

“Ripple Effect”: The Ed Grusheski Memorial Exhibition
2022-04-27 - 2022-06-25 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
Ed Grusheski had a gentle yet persuasive positive manner that resulted in cultivating like minded friends, colleagues, and communities, inspiring them to become more actively concerned and committed to their personal use and care of land and water. Ed did this through promoting education of the history of our relationship of water and how the Fairmount Water Works came to be. The early 19th Century engineer Frederick Graff designed the Fairmount Water Works to more efficiently and safely supply Philadelphia’s water system infrastructure. Ed emphasized in his discussions and work why it is immensely important to preserve the history and legacy of the Fairmount Water Works and to assure its sustainable future.
Due to flood damage from hurricane Ida we regret to inform the passenger elevator allowing wheelchair access is out of service until a flood proof replacement is procured.

Rob Lybeck
Cascade, 5/2020
Archival digital B/W photograph, 16” x 20”

LIST of ARTISTS
Joan Becker
Henry Bermudez
James Brantley
Moe Brooker
Corliss Cavalieri
Patrick Connors
Peter Cunicelli
Thom Duffy
Jung Taesook
Rob Lybeck
Eddy Rhenals
Pamela Tudor
Gary Weisman
SPECIAL THANKS
Thom Duffy, Curator
Pamela Tudor, Exhibition Coordinator
Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia
Stanek Gallery, Philadelphia
Thom Duffy Fine Art, Philadelphia

RIPPLE EFFECT: Curator and Artists’ Tours
2022-04-30 11:00 - 11:30, 2022-04-30 12:30 - 13:00, 2022-05-14 11:00 - 11:30, 2022-05-14 12:30 - 13:00, 2022-05-28 11:00 - 11:30, 2022-05-28 12:30 - 13:00, 2022-06-11 11:00 - 11:30, 2022-06-11 12:30 - 13:00 and 2 more dates | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
Personal guided tours of Ripple Effect: Ed Grusheski Memorial Exhibition featuring thirteen local artists. The artists careers span from emerging to seasoned and the show includes drawings, paintings, sculpture and b/w photography.

Ed Grusheski had a gentle yet persuasive positive manner that resulted in cultivating like minded friends, colleagues, and communities, inspiring them to become more actively concerned and committed to their personal use and care of land and water. Ed did this through promoting education of the history of our relationship of water and how the Fairmount Water Works came to be. The early 19th Century engineer Frederick Graff designed the Fairmount Water Works to more efficiently and safely supply Philadelphia’s water system infrastructure. Ed emphasized in his discussions and work why it is immensely important to preserve the history and legacy of the Fairmount Water Works and to assure its sustainable future.

Closing early for Memorial Day holiday
2022-05-27 13:00 - 17:00 | PA

Summer Splash Early Literacy Program
2022-07-09 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-07-16 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-07-23 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-08-06 10:00 - 12:00 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
Join us for lively family expeditions at the Fairmount Water Works along the Schuylkill River on select Saturday mornings!
Explore the area with guided activities and continue the fun with take-home books and kits full of water-themed activities to do in your neighborhood.
Serving our neighboring neighborhoods: Brewerytown, Fairmount, Strawberry Mansion, Francisville, North Broad
Held on the following Saturday dates from 10am – 12pm: July 9, July 16, July 23, and August 6.
Pre-registration is suggested but not required.
Sign up for all 4 or individual sessions. Space is limited!

Aqua Marooned!
2022-08-13 13:00 - 15:00, 2022-08-27 13:00 - 15:00 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
Aqua Marooned! is a new game that explores nature using quick wit, physical activity & creative invention. Come play for yourself at the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center on August 13, August 27, and September 17 from 1pm – 3pm.

Aqua Marooned!
2022-09-17 14:00 - 16:00 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
Are you up for the challenge?
On Saturday, September 17 from 2pm – 4pm, join our team at the Fairmount Water Works Boardwalk for Aqua Marooned!, a card game that explores the environment using quit wit, physical activity, and creative invention.
No registration needed.

We Drink the River
2022-09-19 16:30 - 16:31 | PA
Where does our tap water come from? Where does our water water go? Join the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center for a behind-the-scenes bus tour of the Philadelphia Water Department’s drinking water system. Learn how it’s connected to our rivers, including past and present-day infrastructure that brings us clean and safe drinking water every day.
Meet at the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center

Honoring Our Past: Lenni Lenape Origins in Our Urban Watershed
2022-10-08 12:00 - 15:00 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
Our River Days Program aims to honor and recognize the Lenni Lenape as the original shepherds of this region and provide community members with an opportunity to explore our watershed through games, hands on activities, and walking tours.

We’ll host the Aqua Marooned Game, lead a water quality testing activity, and wrap up the day with a Lenni Lenape land acknowledgement and interactive presentation.
No registration required.

Book Party & Exhibition Opening - "Inland: The Abandoned Canals of the Schuylkill Navigation"
2022-10-11 17:00 - 18:30 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
Please join Sandy Sorlien and other contributors to celebrate the launch of Inland, a new book of photographs, maps, and essays about the historic Schuylkill Navigation system and its mostly-hidden ruins. Inland was published in hardcover by George F. Thompson Books, designed by Deborah Larkin in Philadelphia, and printed by Brilliant Graphics in Pennsylvania.

Main Point Books will be on site with books available for purchase ($45).

An exhibition of prints and maps from the book will be on view in the Media Gallery through January 8, 2023.

Clean Water Act @50: History Talk With Philadelphia Water Historian Adam Levine
2022-11-02 19:00 - 20:00 | PA
Thanks largely to investments and regulations stemming from the Clean Water Act of 1972, the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers are now cleaner than they have been at any time in the past century.
Philadelphia Water Department Historian Adam Levine will look at how a rising tide of pollution in the 19th and early 20th centuries affected the well-being of the city’s residents and the region’s overall ecological health, and how that tide has since abated.
Levine will illustrate how tighter controls on industrial and sewage discharges in Philadelphia and in upstream communities have led to significant improvements in both the quality of the river water and the livability of the riverfronts.
Register for this free talk here.

Hazardous Waste Drop-Off Event
2022-11-05 09:00 - 15:00 | PA
Help keep household hazardous waste out of our rivers and streams by scheduling a drop-off appointment at one of the City’s upcoming collection events on October 22 and November 5 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.! Learn more here.
