New Deal Accomplishment: About 2,800 new or improved wastewater treatment plants


Above: "CWA Workers Sawing Piles at the Sewage Disposal Plant," a lithograph by Russell T. Limbach (1904-1971), created while he was in the New Deal's Public Works of Art Project, 1934. Image from the Indianapolis Museum of Art.


Above: The New Deal's Public Works Administration (PWA) financed about 894 new or improved wastewater treatment facilities (about 873 non-federal projects, and 21 federal). Image and statistics from: Public Works Administration, America Builds: The Record of PWA, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1939, pp. 270, 288, and 290.


Above: PWA-funded wastewater treatment plants were often massive, such as the Wards Island Sewage Disposal Plant, New York City, built in 1937. The plant is still in operation today--modernized of course--and according to the advocacy group Save the Sound, "the Wards Island plant serves more than a million people in the Bronx and Manhattan and treats about 275 million gallons of sewage a day" ("Wards Island Completes Upgrade, Removing Half the Nitrogen in its Waste," March 22, 2013). Photo from the National Archives.

Above: Another large PWA-funded wastewater treatment plant, in Gary, Indiana, 1940. This plant is still in operation but has been expanded and improved over the decades (see "About GSD," Gary Sanitary District). Photo from the National Archives.


Above: The PWA provided funding for the Blue Plains Disposal Plant in Washington, DC, 1934-1938, and it has since grown in size and improved its water treatment methods. In the brochure above, obtained from the plant in 2019, we read: "Before 1937, wastewater flowed through the District in open sewers and discharged untreated to the nearest waterway." Image scanned from a personal copy.


Above: In this article excerpt, from the Washington Herald-Times, July 24, 1938, p. 1, we read about PWA Administrator (and Secretary of the Interior) Harold Ickes' goal of cleaning up the Potomac River. Later in the article, Ickes discusses the Blue Plains facility (see previous image and caption), his wish for  smaller towns in the vicinity to build treatment plants too, and is quoted, "Anybody who goes wading in Rock Creek today is a fool. One scratch and you might get an infection that would cost you a leg. Dive into the Potomac and the chances are you would come out with typhoid fever." Indeed, many Americans today are probably unaware of the magnitude of the odor, disease, and pollution problems that existed--all across the country--before the New Deal; and, likewise, how revolutionary and effective New Deal sanitation projects were. Image from newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.


Above: Another large PWA-funded facility that still operates today. The St. Paul Metropolitan Council explains that before the plant opened in 1938, "untreated wastewater severely degraded water quality, created a public health hazard, threatened the environment, and caused odors from floating sewage mats." Photo from: C.W. Short and R. Stanley-Brown, Public Buildings: A Survey of Architecture of Projects Constructed by Federal and Other Governmental Bodies Between the Years 1933 and 1939 with the Assistance of the Public Works Administration, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1939, p. 455.


Above: The PWA also funded many smaller wastewater treatment facilities, like this one in Medford, Oregon, which cost $120,946 (about $2.7 million in 2024 dollars). If we compare this to the Minnesota facility (see previous photo), which cost $15,802,765 (about $358 million in 2024 dollars), we can see  the wide range of PWA funding opportunities that existed during the New Deal. Photo from: C.W. Short and R. Stanley-Brown, Public Buildings: A Survey of Architecture of Projects Constructed by Federal and Other Governmental Bodies Between the Years 1933 and 1939 with the Assistance of the Public Works Administration, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1939, p. 464.


Above: The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built 1,021 new wastewater treatment plants, and had 484 other projects to expand, reconstruct, or improve existing facilities. One of the new facilities was in Sunbury, Ohio (pictured above, ca. 1941). The WPA reported that Sunbury, "a town of about 900 population, now has for the first time a modern sewerage system... The plant can handle 75,000 gallons of sewage daily..." Most WPA wastewater treatment facilities were fairly small but "20 plants having capacities of over 2,500,000 gallons per day have been built through WPA projects." Information on the Sunbury website indicates that the WPA treatment plant remained the town's primary facility until 1967. Photo from: Federal Works Agency, Work Projects Administration, Report on Progress of the WPA Program, June 30, 1941, pp. 76-77.

Cleaning up America

If we add up PWA "sewage disposal plant" projects (about 894), WPA "sewage treatment plant" projects (1,021 new plants, 484 projects to improve existing facilities), and also similar projects carried out by the National Youth Administration (424 new sewage treatment plants, and 34 projects to improve existing facilities), we get about 2,800 new or improved wastewater treatment plants created by the New Deal.

I leave out wastewater projects by other New Deal agencies, for example, the Civil Works Administration and the Work Division of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration to keep the estimate low. Previous blog posts highlight several issues that can lead to over-counting; so it's best to employ a few strategies to under-count and get a more accurate statistic.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Deal Accomplishment: 1,383 new hospitals and treatment facilities

Image
Above: The New Deal's Public Works Administration (PWA) provided funding for the new and massive "Charity Hospital" in New Orleans, 1938. In total, PWA funded about 822 "hospitals and institutions for medical treatment" (Public Works Administration, America Builds: The Record of PWA , Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, p. 291 ). Photo from the National Archives . Above: Most Americans have forgotten, or have never been taught in the first place, or in some cases don't seem to care, how New Deal hospitals and health workers brought their parents or grandparents into the world, treated their injuries and broken bones, diagnosed their illnesses, provided the necessary facilities to perform life-saving surgeries, etc. The description for the photograph above reads, "Jackson Memorial Hospital, constructed by PWA in Miami, Florida. The picture shows the nursery room of the hospital." Photo from the National Archives . Above: This photo a...
Read more

New Deal Accomplishment: Over 4 million tons of food distributed to millions of Americans in need

Image
Above: Federal surplus commodities being delivered to residents of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, in June 1941.  Photo by Edwin Rosskam, Farm Security Administration, courtesy of the Library of Congress . 4 Million+ Tons of Food The New Deal set up the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation (FSRC) in 1933 to purchase excess farm products (food, livestock, and goods) and then distribute them at no cost to low-income Americans. At the time, farms across the nation were producing too much and driving costs down to the point where many farmers couldn't make a living. Buying excess, and then distributing it to those in need-- people who weren't able to purchase much from the private sector and, in many cases, suffering from malnutrition --solved two problems simultaneously. In 1935, the FSRC was renamed "Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation" (FSCC), and then the FSCC was merged into the "Surplus Market Administration" (SMA) in June 1940. (See the Living New Deal's...
Read more

New Deal Accomplishment: Over 4,400 Murals

Image
Above: A mural created by WPA artist Gustave Dalstrom, between 1935 and 1943, at the Laurel School kindergarten, Wilmette, Illinois. Photo from the National Archives . Above: A WPA mural to boost the spirits of kids convalescing at the Children's Hospital in Portland, Maine, 1936. Photo from the National Archives . Above: A WPA poster, promoting an exhibit of mural studies. Poster created between 1936 and 1937. Image from the Library of Congress . Above:  "Arrival of First Train in Herrington – 1885," a mural study for the post office building in Herrington, Kansas, created by Harry Louis Freund while he was in the New Deal's Section of Painting and Sculpture, ca. 1937. Image from the Smithsonian American Art Museum . 4,400+ Murals The New Deal sought to beautify America, tell its history, and cheer-up, educate, or inspire its people with numerous works of art, for example, murals placed in schools, hospitals, post offices, and other public buildings. Using reports...
Read more