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Penn State City Semester Student Monitors Clean Water Standards In Pittsburgh's Three River

By Christie Black, Penn State News

City Semester student Jacob Levendosky invested time on the three rivers in Pittsburgh ensuring others could have a safe summer.

As a biology major in the Eberly College of Science, he spent his summer semester as an intern with Three Rivers WaterKeeper—a nonprofit organization that monitors and supports clean water standards on the Monongahela, Allegheny and Ohio Rivers and watersheds.

It is one of the nonprofit organizations working in collaboration with the Penn State Center Pittsburgh to offer experiential learning for students enrolled in City Semester Pittsburgh.

“The overall goal of my project is to ensure the citizens of Pittsburgh are making well informed decisions about recreating in the water and making them aware of the underlying problems with the city's water quality,” Levendosky said. “I have been able to talk with community members who have been impacted by poor water quality, and they have claimed that knowing if the water is safe to float on, swim in, or drink plays a large role in the success of their work.”

Jess Friss, director of community programs for Three Rivers WaterKeeper, said Levendosky’s work is part of the Swim Guide monitoring series—a national program that aims to provide people with information on the health of the waterways specifically related to recreational water standards.

“Every week he goes out and samples five sites in Southwestern Pennsylvania including Duck Hollow, Point State Park, Kilbuck Fish and Boat Ramp, and Sharpsburg Boat Ramp. The fifth site changes weekly so that we can test smaller tributaries.”

Friss said the main goal of Swim Guide is to collect data on the health of rivers during the summer in relation to E. coli levels.

“This is important as many areas have a combined sewer system for both stormwater and wastewater which means when the sewers are overwhelmed with rainwater they can discharge untreated wastewater into our rivers,” Friss said. “People always ask us if the rivers are safe to swim in, and we hope that this will provide some data on the state of our rivers related to E. coli in the water.”

Levendosky said being a part of the City Semester Pittsburgh program has been an experience unlike anything else during his time at Penn State.

“It has been fascinating to learn and work in Pittsburgh while understanding what life in the city is truly like. The lessons we are learning about urban sustainability like waste management and green infrastructure are especially impactful when we get to see how they are being developed first-hand,” Levendosky said. “One of my favorite aspects of the program has been getting to take trips as a class to different places in Pittsburgh like Phipps Center for Sustainable Landscapes where we were able to see and learn more about sustainable development practices and how they are actively being implemented.”

Levendosky shared that he plans to pursue graduate school with a focus on ecology.

“I believe that being a part of the City Semester Pittsburgh Program will help me be well prepared for graduate school and my potential career path as a professor because I am experiencing the interactions between nature and people daily that is impossible to learn in a classroom alone,” Levendosky said. “My experience has helped to keep me inspired and will hopefully set me apart in my application to graduate schools.”

To learn more about City Semester Pittsburgh and other programs focused on urban sustainability, visit the Penn State Center Pittsburgh website.

The Penn State Center Pittsburgh is a service of Penn State Outreach.

(Photos: Jacob Levendosky; Penn State Center Pittsburgh cleanup team.)

(Reprinted from Penn State News.)

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