Philadelphia Hydrology
Hydrology by County
The city of Philadelphia boasts over 2,000 miles of running river water across six counties. In addition, Philadelphia has over 8,000 creeks spanning these different counties. The county with the most river miles is Philadelphia while Montgomery houses the most creeks. Both of these locations would attract water-loving workforce populations.
Philadelphia Watersheds
Watersheds are areas that drain into bodies of water. They are the main powerhouse for all rivers and lakes, and Philadelphia has seven large watersheds. In particular, the Pennypack Creek watershed is the largest, towering at 50,436 total square miles. Both the Schuylkill River and Wissahickon Creek are large watersheds and well-known Philadelphian landmarks.
Watersheds by Size
Taking a deeper look into Philadelphia's watersheds, we can further identify their attractive characteristics. The bubble chart depicts each watershed in increasing size based on acres and increasing color darkness by number of creeks. Each watershed is the source of various different rivers and creeks, with Wissahickon and Pennypack supplying the most bodies of water in Philadelphia.