Secret Pittsburgh S1 Ep2: Unearthing Pittsburgh's Secret Streams of Sewage by Pitt English

When we visited Frick Park, we learned that sewage flows through Nine Mile Run, one of the main streams in Frick. This episode explores the mystery of how sewage ended up in this stream and almost every other waterway in Pittsburgh, including our rivers. We meet with staff from UpstreamPGH and the Pittsburgh Water Collaboratory in our journey to find out history, impact, and community solutions in relation to sewage in Pittsburgh waterways.

Written Sources

Allegheny County Sanitary Authority. History Timeline. n.d. Web. 17 November 2023. https://www.alcosan.org/about-us/history/history-timeline.

—. Wastewater Treatment. n.d. Web. 17 November 2023. https://www.alcosan.org/what-we-do/wastewater-treatment.

American Rivers. What Makes a River Different Colors. 2023. Web. 17 November 2023. https://www.americanrivers.org/what-makes-a-river-different-colors/.

Bain, Dan, Emily Elliott and Becky Forgrave. How does stream burial affect water runoff? Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Collaboratory for Water Research, Education, and Outreach, 2022. 12 November 2023. https://www.water.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/2022-06/Forgrave_Briefing.pdf.

Birdy, Aaron. Personal Interview Hunter Bash. 9 November 2023.

Guy, Megan. Personal Interview Hunter Bash. 16 November 2023.

Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. Frick Park. 2023. Web. 17 November 2023. https://pittsburghparks.org/explore-your-parks/regional-parks/frick-park/.

Sewer Equipment Company of America. Sanitary vs. Combined Sewer Systems. 2023. Web. 17 November 2023. https://sewerequipment.com/sanitary-vs-combined-sewer-systems/.

Audio Credits
cookies+policy. "Bright Cinematic Boom (Slow Reverb)." 2021. https://freesound.org/people/cookies+policy/sounds/555243/.

Eelke. "Analog Camera click shutter." 2019. https://freesound.org/people/Eelke/sounds/462827/.

Mark Wilson X. "Drowning." 2023. https://freemusicarchive.org/music/mark-wilson-x/quiet-moods/drowning-1/.

mrrap4food. "Toilet Flushing." 2019. https://freesound.org/people/mrrap4food/sounds/470621/.

Puddle of Infinity. "Young And Old Know Love." n.d. YouTube Creator Studio Library. Setuniman. "thoughtful moment 0_19c." 2011. https://freesound.org/people/Setuniman/sounds/136658/.

Straget. "The rain falls against the parasol." 2020. https://freesound.org/people/straget/sounds/531947/.

yanvince and comusal. "magnificent." 2023. https://youtu.be/m7HcGCbzB00?si=F2xCgeJtdTZuArBn.