Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center™

The Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center launched Schuylkill Soundings, a new series of evening programs. March featured a number of fascinating programs, three remarkable speakers, wine, cheese and, of course, ice water. Topics ranged from the ice on earth to ice in space, from the molecular to the cosmic. And this is just the beginning of what the FWWIC hopes will evolve into a fascinating series of entertaining and informative adult programming.

On March 8, Mariana Gosnell, a self-described pagofile, or ice lover, shared her passion for hard water. She is the author of Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance. Her book looks at ice, that primordial, life-enabling substance, from above and below, on all continents and from many scientific perspectives. As one astronomer told the author, “No ice, no us.” The discussion ranged from differences between river and lake ice to a heated debate on global warming.

Joining Mariana on the panel were:

Moderator: Amy Freeze, Certified Meteorologist, NBC 10
Robert Giegengack, Ph.D., Geologist, Universtiy of Pennsylvania, Institute of Environmental Studies
Geoffrey Brock, Environmental Engineer, Philadelphia Water Department Laboratories
Marta Zamora, teacher and chemist, Penn Charter High School
Melanie A. Vile, Ph.D., Assistant Curator o Ecosystem Ecology, Patrick Center for Environmental Research, The Academy of Natural Sciences.

At Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center, World Water Day evolved into a three-day forum on the world’s drinking water.

On March 21, the eve of World Water Day, Gillian Martin Sorensen, Senior Advisor to the United Nations Foundation, briefed the audience on the correlation between water and poverty. She also described the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, focusing on MDG Goal #7: By 2015 reduce by half the proportion of people without access to sanitation and safe drinking water. Today, 1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and 2.4 billion have inadequate sanitation. The event was co-sponsored by the United Nations Association - Greater Philadelphia Chapter.

Philadelphia has been recognized as a Local Action by the 4th World Water Forum for its World Water Day activities in a partnership between the United Nations Association – Greater Philadelphia Chapter and the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center. These Local Actions will contribute to building the capacity of participants to address water issues. All Local Actions will be registered on the 4th Forum’s Indigenous Issue website and linked to our website.

On March 22 the Interpretive Center invited high school students to meet women scientists from the Philadelphia Water Department. These working professionals spoke not only about career paths but also about how their work helps protect the quality of our water locally and impacts the global water supply. The career day was held in conjunction with Women in Science and Engineering Week.

FWWIC welcomed Nobel Laureate Dr. Barry Blumberg on March 23. His discovery of the Hepatitis B virus, and development of a vaccine to prevent it, has reduced the occurrence of this water-born disease dramatically. Physician, scientist and anthropologist, Dr. Blumberg led the discussion from the microscopic level of a virus, to diseases devastating populations on every continent, and finally to Space, where astrobiologists have discovered water on Mars and on Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus. With this discovery of ice, will their next discovery be life?