PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Manayunk Canal may one day be home to a million freshwater mussels if a Philadelphia Water Department project succeeds.
The Water Department is known for its use of green technology to augment traditional gray infrastructure like sewers. The Manayunk Canal Mussel Project uses blue technology — an in-stream, all-natural water filtration system. Senior scientist Lance Butler says each mussel filters three to eight gallons of water each day.
“These things not only filter water, they also stabilize the sediment. They also clear the water column, which allows light to penetrate, which then allows rooted vegetation to take place, so they build habitat for small fish,” Butler said.
But these mussels, which are about three times the size of a dime, are not for eating.
“I always equate a freshwater mussel to tasting your father’s old shoe. Even the Native Americans would only eat these when there was a starvation occurring,” Butler said.
They were once plentiful in local waterways and, if Butler is successful, they will be again. The focus now is on the canal, which has recently been reconnected with the Schuylkill River, so the water is flowing again, but he says they could also benefit the Schuylkill, the Delaware, the Wissahickon rivers.
“It’s a unique, underrepresented commodity for any community that’s looking to improve water quality.”
Right now, there are only about 1,000 mussels, which are part of a feasibility study.
Butler’s colleague, Shannon Boyle, says the study has shown several species can live in the canal.
“We know that these mussels that we are working with were here; they’d just been decimated due to pollution, human activity,” Boyle said.