The Cellar - Lead bottom and water

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Originally Posted by tw (Post 951889)

That would be when enough water cannot be provided by the Schuylkill River. Note contamination levels. Highest contamination is from the Delaware River. Cleanest is from the Schuylkill. Delaware is used mostly when additional water is needed.

Water is fungible. That map is simply a ball park estimate when all plants are fully operational. Water from the Delaware needs more treatment - costs more. Whenever possible, Philadelphia uses cleaner (and therefore less expensive) water from other two plants.

http://cellar.org/2015/phlwatersources2.jpg

(same source as above; Philadelphia Water Department)

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Observe water approaching Philly's cleanest plant. Expect to see a dead body in it. That is Philly's cleanest water?

Your information and observations are decades out of date.

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So again, what happens between Port Jervis and Philadelphia?

Almost nothing, thanks to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, the Clean Water Act of 1977, the Water Quality Act of 1987 and the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1996.

Need hard proof? It's all in this marvelous 500 page 2002 assessment of the Delaware River which lists every measurement of every pollutant in every tributary. Here are the major issues that impact water quality of the Delaware. This is what happens after Port Jervis:

• Acid mine drainage
• Discharges from septic systems, sewerage systems, and wastewater treatment plants
• Dumping, tire piles, salvage yards, and abandoned industry in or near the floodplain
• Agricultural runoff of herbicides, pesticides, fertilizer, sediment, and phosphorus
• Erosion and construction runoff
• Dam removal and sediment releases
• Catastrophic accidents and spills, particularly oil delivery spills, from roads, trains, and fires
• Road runoff
• Wildlife management

Most of the issues do not come from large, heavy polluters. Surprisingly, the main culprits: storm water runoff, sewage systems, service stations, and dry cleaning plants.

Not surprisingly, one of the issues is Canadian Geese. (That's the Wildlife management section) Those fuckers are shitting everywhere. But they wouldn't even be here if the water wasn't clean.

~ you're welcome ~