Green City, Clean Waters is Philadelphia's 25-year plan to protect and enhance our watersheds by managing stormwater with innovative green infrastructure. The Philadelphia Water Department developed Green City, Clean Waters to provide a clear pathway to a sustainable future while strengthening the utility, broadening its mission, and complying with environmental laws and regulations.

Nationwide, water utilities are confronting a new set of complex environmental, demographic and financial challenges while also trying to meet customer expectations for a safe and affordable water supply; the collection and treatment of wastewater and stormwater; flood protection; and clean, attractive, fishable, swimmable rivers and streams. There are also new challenges posed by aging infrastructure and the impacts of climate change on human health and our ecosystems. Meeting these challenges requires either a significant new investment in "grey" infrastructure (underground storage tanks and pipes) or a paradigm shift in our approach to urban water resources.

Over the past decade, PWD has created, tested and implemented new strategies to promote the economic and social growth of the City and meet environmental, ecological and business missions. As the City agency charged with ensuring compliance with the Federal Clean Water Act, PWD developed Green City, Clean Waters to protect and enhance our waterways by using green infrastructure systems that assist or mimic natural processes.


Images above are design concepts only

 

Key Concepts

To learn more about Green City, Clean Waters, we recommend you start with the Summary Report. To help you understand the terminology and issues behind Green City, Clean Waters (technically known as the CSO Long Term Control Plan Update), here are some key concepts that inform our planning and solutions:

 

Stormwater Management Tools

How do we keep stormwater from causing sewer overflows into our rivers and streams? PWD's green stormwater infrastructure tools evaporate some of the runoff into the ground, evaporate a portion of it into the air, and in some cases slowly release the water into the sewer system.
Stormwater Planter
 
Porous Pavement
   
Stormwater Wetland

more tools >>

 

Videos      The Big Green Map

Green City, Clean Waters


Green Homes
   
Columbus Square Park


Greener, Healthier Playgrounds
                   
  more videos >>   view our green infrastructure projects >>

 

CSO Long Term Control Plan Update Documents

EPA Partnership Agreement

On April 10, 2012, the City of Philadelphia and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency signed a partnership agreement to recognize the Green City, Clean Waters plan and its approach to stormwater management.

EPA Green City, Clean Waters Partnership Agreement

PA DEP Consent Order and Agreement

Consent Order and Agreement executed with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on June 1, 2011 for the implementation of the Philadelphia Water Department's Combined Sewer Overflow Long Term Control Plan Update (Green City, Clean Waters Plan)

Complete Document (5.5 MB)

Consent Order and Agreement
Appendix A - Please contact PA DEP for more information
Appendix B - National CSO Policy
Appendix C - Pennsylvania CSO Policy
Appendix D - PWD's October 28, 2010 letter to DEP
Appendix E - Supplemental Documentation in support of the City of Philadelphia's Combined Sewer Overflow Long Term Control Plan Update, April 2011
Appendix F - Example of a dry-weather discharge report, such as is typically provided with the periodic CSO Status Reports
Appendix G - Short descriptions of Deliverables listed in Paragraph 3.a
Appendix H - DEP Approval Letter
Appendix I - 2012 NPDES Permits - Part C Addendum; Water Quality Requirements section of NPDES Permits, or WQBEL

Consent Order and Agreement Required Deliverables

Implementation and Adaptive Management Plan submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on December 1, 2011 as required by Appendix G of the Consent Order and Agreement. This is a draft document pending approval by PA DEP.

Implementation and Adaptive Management Plan (1.1 MB)

Appendices (5.7 MB)

Summary Report

Summary Report - amended June 1, 2011

High Resolution (95 MB)
Low Resolution (4.5 MB)

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