The Schuylkill has gotten much cleaner, but sewer overflows still plague it

Kianna Bingham sat in the skiff as it purred along the river under the South Street Bridge. To her left, Schuylkill Banks boardwalk stretched out, and the towering skyscrapers of University City and Center City appeared to hover in the wake.

“This is the first time I’ve seen the river like this,” said Bingham, a community organizer for Councilmember Jamie Gauthier. “It’s amazing. I see so many opportunities for activities on the water. I grew up in the district and I never would have dreamed of getting in a boat to see it. I just think how fun this is. It’s a whole different view of the city.”

On May 17, a collaborative of environmental advocacy groups and City Council representatives embarked on two small motor boats to explore the potential for recreation on the tidal Schuylkill, specifically the portion below Fairmount Dam. As heavy industry has receded, the riverbanks have opened to trails, fishing piers and docks.

The groups hope the river will one day be clean enough for paddling every day and maybe even suitable for swimming, a goal of the federal Clean Water Act.

As the boats darted upriver, they passed anglers fishing from piers, runners on the Schuylkill River Trail, and others relaxing in parks along the river. However, in some isolated spots, the smell of sewage clung to the water’s surface like a damp rug.

The Schuylkill, once plagued by chemical discharges from factories, plants, and refineries along its banks, has made significant strides toward recovery, thanks to regulations under the Clean Water Act in the 1970s.

But even with improvements, all waterways in Philadelphia currently remain off-limits for swimming and bathing, except during organized events such as triathlons, because of the risk of bacterial infections, drowning, fishhooks, and strong currents.

Even paddling on the river is restricted on many days due to elevated bacteria levels.

The persistent pollution primarily stems from stormwater runoff that overwhelms the Philadelphia Water Department’s (PWD) aging sewer system. Annually, an estimated 14 billion gallons of untreated sewage and rainwater flow into the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, as well as Cobbs, Frankford, Tacony, and Pennypack Creeks. Although this outflow doesn’t directly threaten drinking water, which undergoes treatment before reaching residents, it poses health risks for those venturing onto the river.

The crux of the issue lies in Philadelphia’s combined sewer system, where stormwater and sewage share the same pipes during rainstorms. This volume overload strains the city’s three treatment plants, leading to untreated water surging through 164 combined sewer overflows (CSOs) that discharge into the waterways. The combined sewer system serves about 60% of the city.

Camden and Chester City, both situated along the river, grapple with the same CSO system.

Chloe Wang, the river program manager at Bartram’s Garden, situated along the river’s banks, coordinates free kayaking and fishing programs for thousands of visitors.

“But we end up canceling about one-quarter of our on-water programs every year in an effort to keep our guests safe from combined sewer overflows,” Wang said.

The PWD’s RiverCast website updates Schuylkill recreational users on how clean the non-tidal river is above Fairmount Dam on a given day, but not the tidal segment that runs from the dam to the Delaware River.

Councilmember Mark Squilla thinks that the overflows can be reduced, but that it’s going to take effort.

“We should be able to access our rivers,” Squilla said. “The rivers are cleaner than they were 10 years ago, and even 20 years ago. But when you’re dumping 14 billions of gallons of sewage into the river every year, it’s hard to get to the point where they’re going to be clean enough that you can recreate.”

Squilla and advocates commend the Philadelphia Water Department for its planned upgrades to its plants and its Green City Clean Rivers program, which consists of installing infrastructure such as rain gardens, rain barrels, trees, plants, and other natural elements all designed to reduce the stormwater runoff. The program reduces stormwater by three billion gallons a year.

Introduced in 2011, the Green City program aimed to significantly reduce pollution by 2036. But environmentalists say climate change has shifted the goalposts due to heavier storms. So as the city fights to keep stormwater from flowing into rivers, the sheer volume of water continues to rise.

The collaborative of nonprofits, dubbed the Restoring the River Action Team, thinks the PWD needs to do more. Nick Pagon of the nonprofit Riverways said his analysis shows that the 14 billion gallons per year of raw sewage mixed with stormwater pouring into the tidal Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers is actually more than when PWD started its reduction plan.

» READ MORE: 15 billion gallons of sewage-polluted water flows annually into Philly’s rivers and streams, report says

Collaborative members say they recognize the enormous amount of money that would be needed to replace the city’s vast network of underground pipes and upgrade treatment plants. They hope for more federal funds under the Bipartisan Infrastructure and Inflation Reduction Acts, which contain billions of dollars for water treatment improvements.

“Philadelphia is a river city,” said Tim Dillingham, executive director of the nonprofit American Littoral Society, a conservation organization for coastal areas. “We’ve done a disservice to the river by turning our backs on it. I don’t want to be overdramatic, but it acts as an open sewer.”

Andrew Kricun, managing director of Moonshot Missions, a nonprofit that provides technical assistance to water utilities, suggested that the PWD should turn to nets that trap solids near outflows. Kricun said the nets get hoisted and cleared. They have been successful elsewhere, he said.

However, Brian Rademaekers, a water department spokesman, said the agency already tried a pilot program on smaller sewer outfalls but found that nets took a lot of maintenance as tree limbs tore through. Most debris consisted of leaves, bottles, cans and trash — not sewage.

The PWD, instead, said it plans to stick with using skimmer boats to scoop out floating trash and plastics. A crew of one such vessel stopped to chat with the environmentalists as they toured the river. Each skimming vessel collects 1.1 tons of plastic per year.

Don Baugh, president of the nonprofit Upstream Alliance, however, said that despite challenges, efforts to combat pollution are making a difference.

“The Schuylkill has made a historic recovery and is now more than a river of hope,” Baugh said. “It has come alive for fish, birds, turtles, mussels, and for the people that recreate in and around it. We are close to declaring victory as a fully restored river, once we solve this nagging sewage issue.”