The National League of Cities gives Philadelphia major kudos for its groundbreaking water conservation plan.
To stem its discharges, Philadelphia is intent on filtering out, block by block, the fast, storm-induced runoff of pollutants -- litter, oil, antifreeze, pesticides, bacteria from pet waste -- that accumulate on concrete and asphalt surfaces, then wash into and pollute streams and rivers.
All this matters in dollars. Federal Clean Water Act rules could have obligated Philadelphia to spend as much as $10 billion for a system of massive tanks and tunnels to hold overflows -- the "big engineering" solution many cities are following. By contrast, the cost of Philadelphia's new water-conserving, storm-mitigating green infrastructure may be as little as $2 billion.
Original source: National League of Cities
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