Editing Philadelphia Water Department (section)

== History ==

Philadelphia established America's first major municipal water system in 1801 with the construction of the Centre Square Water Works, designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe. The system pumped water from the Schuylkill River to a tank at Centre Square (now City Hall's location) for distribution. This pioneering effort responded to yellow fever epidemics attributed to contaminated well water, establishing public health as a driver of water infrastructure investment.<ref name="pwd"/>

The Fairmount Water Works, completed in 1815, replaced the Centre Square facility with a more efficient system using water wheels powered by the Schuylkill to pump water to reservoirs on Faire Mount (now the Philadelphia Museum of Art's location). The works became a famous tourist attraction, with the classical architecture and scenic setting drawing visitors throughout the nineteenth century. The facility now operates as an interpretive center for water education.<ref name="pwd"/>

As Philadelphia grew, the water system expanded to include additional intake points, filtration facilities, and distribution infrastructure. The city pioneered slow sand filtration in the early twentieth century, responding to waterborne disease concerns. Subsequent decades brought chlorination, fluoridation, and increasingly sophisticated treatment processes that established Philadelphia's water system among the nation's most advanced.<ref name="pwd"/>