Fairmount Water Works

Aqua Marooned!
2022-09-17 14:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | 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
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
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
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.

Clean Water Act @ 50: Virtually Tour the Plants that Saved Our Rivers
2022-11-10 10:00 - 11:00
This virtual tour will take virtual visitors behind the scenes at the City’s Southeast Water Pollution Control Plant to follow polluted wastewater step by step through the treatment plant until the cleaned wastewater is cleaner than the Delaware River itself and can be discharged safely to it.
Philadelphia’s sewers and the City’s three water pollution control plants, including its award-winning Southeast Plant – all repaired, rebuilt, and/or expanded under the Clean Water Act – have played a major role in making the region’s streams, small and large, cleaner from the City’s northern limits to the mouth of the Delaware Bay. These streams 50 years ago were: polluted with sewage, industrial waste, and trash; unfit for recreation; unhealthy for habitation by aquatic wildlife; and, barely useable as potable water supply. Today, 50 years after passage of the Clean Water Act, the region’s streams are valued by the public for their abundant natural resources, for the many recreational opportunities they offer, and as the source of drinking water that is potable and tastes good.
Register here.

FWW Closing at 2pm
2022-12-23 14:00 - 17:00

2023 Green Schools Conference
2023-02-27 08:00 - 2023-03-01 17:00
Don’t forget to register for the 2023 Green Schools Conference in New Orleans February 27- March 1! This is the only national event to convene professionals involved in making #greenschools a reality. https://bit.ly/3G7edXE

2023 World Water Day Program: United Nations of Rivers Walk
2023-03-17 12:00 - 17:00 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
Facilitated by the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center, in partnership with TU Delft, PortCityFutures, Philadelphia Water Department, Global Philadelphia, and the Alliance for Watershed Education, along with Schuylkill Banks, Schuylkill River Development Corporation, and Delaware River Development Corporation
Friends and colleagues of all ages are invited to walk downstream along the Schuylkill River trail, starting at the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center. Along the way, participants will be recorded answering a series of questions about the river, to give voice to all living things and how much we depend on the river and the river depends on us.
Returning together is optional.
This River Walk is part of a global program to record voices throughout the world. Recordings will be compiled and shared at Spitzer School of Architecture on Sunday March 19th as a pre-UN Water Conference 2023 Event. All are welcome to attend. Concurrent walks will take place along the Delaware River and Pennypack Creek (with students from Baldi Middle School)
Schedule:

12pm – Gather at Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center
12:30pm – Start Schuylkill River Walk downstream.

Note:

Brown bag lunch. Philadelphia tap water provided.
The walk has no end time—weather and people dependent

Open invitation to friends and colleagues of all ages to walk downstream along the Schuylkill River.

2023 World Water Day Program: Water, Heritage Sites & Sustainability
2023-03-18 10:00 - 17:00 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
DAY 2: WATER, HERITAGE SITES & SUSTAINABILITY (SATURDAY, MARCH 18 from 10am – 5pm)
Facilitated by the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center, In partnership with TU Delft, PortCityFutures, Philadelphia Water Department, Global Philadelphia, and the Alliance for Watershed Education.
A full day program open to everyone about water as a lead up to the UN Water Conference 2023 in NYC March 22-24th, a mid-term review of the objectives of “Water for Sustainable Development (2018-2028) hosted by Tajikistan and the Netherlands.
A Delegation from the Netherlands will gather with Philadelphians at the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center to affirm the central role water plays in sustainable development.
Program highlights include: speakers, lunch, guided tours of the Water Works, viewing of the award-winning “POOL: A Social History of Segregation”, and a closing preview of our latest exhibit “Inland: The Abandoned Canals of the Schuylkill Navigation” with Sandy Sorlien. Join us for informal conversations and serious game playing that will celebrate water, public engagement, place-based education and the conservation of historic and cultural sites associated with water.

Reopening of "POOL"
2023-03-22 11:00 - 17:00 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
More at www.poolphl.com.

Freshwater Mussel Measuring
2023-03-25 10:00 - 12:00 | The Discovery Center, 3401 Reservoir Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19121, United States
Join us for our monthly freshwater mussel measuring event at the Discovery Center on March 25, 2023! This community science program helps our freshwater mussel propagation program and brings us a step closer to cleaner water for birds and for ourselves. For more information, contact Bria Wimberly at bria.wimberly@audubon.org or Stacey Heffernan at stacey.heffernan@phila.gov.
To register, please go to: https://forms.gle/c9akz9ZZ7rp7wRYq8

Fluency: The Language of Water and Who We Are (Pop-Up Event in the Historic Kelly Pool)
2023-04-08 15:00 - 16:30 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
Frae-Frae: Daughter of Drexciya presents Fluency: The Language of Water and Who We Are
An immersive sonic experience wading through memories, dreams, and reflections regarding how water can divide and unite, while never being defeated.
LaFrae Sci a.k.a Frae-Frae: Daughter of Drexciya, is an award-winning and internationally acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, educator, composer, and electro-acoustic adventurer. Bedrock to her artistry is the roots and the fruits of the blues from spirituals to afro-diasporic futuristic soundscapes that explore time travel, prayer, meditation, and the African American ecstatic tradition. To date, she has shared her intentional creativity in 38 countries.
LaFrae is also the Executive Director/Dir. of Artistic Programming at Willie Mae Future Sounds named after Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton. W.M.F.S. is a STEAM-based, year-round empowerment through music program that includes deep listening, Afro Diasporic futurism, critical thinking and leadership, including music technology through the lens of the blues tradition for girls and gender non-conforming youth in New York City.
Support for this program has been provided by The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation, the Department of Music of the University of Pennsylvania, and MUSICA PRACTICA / ELETTRONICA VIVA.
Please Note – POOL: A Social History of Segregation is open Wednesdays thru Saturdays 11:00 am – 5:00 pm Admission is Free
POOL was created by Victoria Prizzia of Habitheque and made possible by the generous support of The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage with additional support from the Philadelphia Water Department and the School District of Philadelphia’s Green Futures program. Much of the historical content was researched and referenced by Dr. Jeff Wiltse, author of Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America. We would also like to thank leadership of the Fund for the Fairmount Water Works and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation for their ongoing support for this project.

2023 Delaware River Watershed Fellowship Application Deadline
2023-04-14 17:00
Make this summer memorable and fun with a paid job connecting your community with nature!
Learn more about this exciting opportunity here.

Brass in the Grass
2023-04-15 13:00 - 16:00 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
Join the Fairmount Park Conservancy and the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center for “Brass in the Grass”, a special performance in honor of Jazz Appreciation Month.
Limited seating will be provided so we encourage you to bring your own lawn chair or picnic blanket and bring your own food and refreshments.
Performances from 1–2 pm and 3–4 pm.
Advanced RSVP is appreciated.
Full details and registration here.

High Water: An Informal History of Flooding in Philadelphia
2023-04-18 19:00 - 20:30 | Venice Island Performing Arts & Recreation Center, 7 Lock Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19127, United States
When a city is built along a river—and Philadelphia is wedged between two, the Schuylkill and the Delaware—floods are an inevitable occurrence, with sometimes tragic consequences. In this illustrated talk, environmental historian Adam Levine will talk about some of the worst floods ever to hit Philadelphia, beginning in the early 1800s and ending up with Hurricane Ida in 2021. He will also discuss the causes of different types of flooding that occur in urban areas, and what we can do to help mitigate future floods.
Levine has been delving into the history of Philadelphia’s rivers, streams, and water supply and drainage systems since 1998, as a consultant to the Philadelphia Water Department and as webmaster of waterhistoryPHL.org. His talks are always illuminating, and this one will include rarely-seen pictures, maps, and stories that he has uncovered in his years 25 years of research.
Adam Levine’s presentation kicks off SUBMERGED: A Changing Global Climate a special exhibition theme centered on flooding and Global Climate Change. The exhibition is directed by Karen Young for the Fairmount Water Works and curated by Thom Duffy. The exhibition’s purpose is to bring focus to historic and current extreme weather events impacting our region and the Planet’s struggle for survival. The show opens on EARTH DAY, Saturday, April 22 and closes July 29.

SUBMERGED: A Changing Global Climate (Tour & Discussion)
2023-04-22 11:00 - 12:00 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
INFORMAL TOUR AND DISCUSSION WITH CURATOR AND ARTISTS
We welcome visitors to register in advance for personal and engaging tours with Thom Duffy, Curator of “SUBMERGED: A Changing Global Climate”, at the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center.
On opening day, which is EARTH DAY – Saturday, April 22nd, tours will include environmental advocate artists; Anabelle Rodríguez, Maura Williams and others. You won’t want to miss this special opportunity to hear from these artists who are featured in this special exhibition themed on flooding and Global Climate Change.

Tour runs approximately 45 minutes.
FWWIC VISITOR HOURS: Wednesday – Saturday (10am – 5pm)
ADMISSION: Free to all. Donations accepted at Visitors’ Desk.
The exhibition is brought to you in part by the Fund for the Water Works and the Ed F. Grusheski Water Literacy Foundation.
Register here.

SUBMERGED: A Changing Global Climate (Tour & Discussion)
2023-04-22 13:00 - 14:00, 2023-05-06 11:00 - 12:00, 2023-05-06 13:00 - 14:00, 2023-05-20 11:00 - 12:00 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
INFORMAL TOUR AND DISCUSSION WITH CURATOR AND ARTISTS
We welcome visitors to register in advance for personal and engaging tours with Thom Duffy, Curator of “SUBMERGED: A Changing Global Climate”, at the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center. He may also be joined with a small group of artists who are featured in this special exhibition themed on flooding and Global Climate Change.
Tour runs approximately 45 minutes.
FWWIC VISITOR HOURS: Wednesday – Saturday (10am – 5pm)
ADMISSION: Free to all. Donations accepted at Visitors’ Desk.
The exhibition is brought to you in part by the Fund for the Water Works and the Ed F. Grusheski Water Literacy Foundation.
Register here.

Mussel Maniacs
2023-04-29 10:00 - 12:00, 2023-05-20 10:00 - 12:00 | The Discovery Center, 3401 Reservoir Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19121, United States
Join us for our monthly freshwater mussel measuring event at the Discovery Center on Saturday, April 29 from 10am – 12pm! This community science program helps our freshwater mussel propagation program and brings us a step closer to cleaner water for birds and for ourselves. For more information, contact Bria Wimberly at bria.wimberly@audubon.org or Stacey Heffernan at stacey.heffernan@phila.gov.

It Flowed from Fairmount: Brewing History Tour
2023-04-29 12:00 - 16:00 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
Sure, people have loved drinking beer in the park for years, but did you know that beer was also made on these lands?
Before the city created the park, the banks of the Schuylkill River were valuable to emerging breweries for the harvesting and storage of ice, and the cold storage of lager beer in underground vaults.
Schedule:

Talk (12pm – 1pm)
Tour (1pm – 2:30pm)
Tasting (2:30pm – 3:30pm)
Brass Band Performance (3pm – 4pm)

Sponsored by Fairmount Park Conservancy.
Full details and registration here.

Brass in the Grass
2023-04-29 13:00 - 16:00 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
EVENT UPDATE: Due to the ongoing rain and wet outdoor conditions, Brass in the Grass will be held under the Water Works Pavilion today.

Join the Fairmount Park Conservancy and the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center for “Brass in the Grass”, a special performance in honor of Jazz Appreciation Month.
Limited seating will be provided so we encourage you to bring your own lawn chair or picnic blanket and bring your own food and refreshments.
Performances from 1–2 pm and 3–4 pm.
Advanced RSVP is appreciated.
Full details and registration here.

Special Historic Preservation Tour
2023-05-11 14:00 - 15:00, 2023-05-18 14:00 - 15:00 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
May is Historic Preservation Month!
This guided tour includes an orientation of the exterior grounds of our National Historic Landmark. Guests will then head inside to tour the Interpretive Center’s exhibit areas on their own, see the award-winning 15-minute narrated historical film, and enjoy our latest exhibition, “POOL: A Social History of Segregation”.
Questions? Email us at fairmountww@gmail.com

Full STEAM Ahead at Fairmount Water Works: WE DRINK THE RIVER
2023-05-13 10:00 - 12:00 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
How do we know if the water in the Schuylkill River is healthy? Join FWWIC staff in collecting water samples from the river to test the water quality. Use a plankton net to sample microorganisms and view with a microscope. Try to identify them and make a sketch to take home! Recommended for families with children at least 6 years old. Free.

Exploring Public Health Impacts of Climate Change on Water in Philadelphia Region Through Artistic Reflections
2023-05-17 18:00 - 20:00 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
Please join us for an evening of conversation about art and public health with physician and public health expert Dr. Pouné Saberi and artist Dr. Pia De Girolamo, MD. They will explore the physical and mental health impacts of climate change and how creative expressions offer solutions. Ellen Schultz, FWWIC Director of Strategic Partnership will facilitate a dialogue between our featured speakers, followed by interactive audience participation.
Dr. Pouné Saberi, MD, MPH, has been a physician for more than 20 years currently specializing in Occupational and Environmental Medicine in Philadelphia, PA. She is a member of the board of directors for Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania. She is a subject matter expert on environmental health, public health implications of sources of energy production, and nexus of climate change and human health.
Pia De Girolamo, MD is a painter whose primary medium is acrylic on canvas. She lives in the Greater Philadelphia area. Her work has referenced both natural and urban landscapes, botanical themes, and the figure. De Girolamo has had 14 solo exhibitions, in the US and in Italy. De Girolamo has a BA in Art History from Barnard College, Columbia University, an MD degree from the University of Rochester, and she specialized in Infectious Diseases at the University of Pennsylvania. She lectures on the relationship between art and medicine as well as the connections between art, nature, and health. Her awarded work has been acquired for collections by the Museo Mastroianni, Rome, PNC Bank, Pittsburgh, PA and Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia.
This lecture is part of a series of discussions sparked by an exhibition titled SUBMERGED: A Changing Global Climate. This special exhibition’s theme centered on flooding and Global Climate Change is directed by Karen Young for the Fairmount Water Works and curated by Thom Duffy.
The exhibition’s purpose is to bring focus to historic and current extreme weather events impacting our region and the Planet’s struggle for survival.
The exhibition is brought to you in part by the Fund for the Water Works and the Ed F. Grusheski Water Literacy Foundation.
