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Old 08-04-2011, 07:40 AM
 
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I'd agree it is not fair to judge large rivers against the standard "crystal clear", but for the same reasons it was an odd thing to say.
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Old 08-04-2011, 11:27 AM
 
Location: South Oakland, Pittsburgh, PA
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Well, to help put the rivers thing to bed, my girlfriend, who's originally from York was and is still amazed how blue and clean our waters look compared to the cities she's been to (D.C., Baltimore, Philly, NYC)

So yeah, they're not crystal clear, but they've certainly come a long way and something we Pittsburghers should take pride in.
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Old 08-04-2011, 11:46 AM
 
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They're mostly green, because they reflect the trees. Which of course is also perfectly natural.
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Old 08-04-2011, 12:40 PM
 
Location: About 10 miles north of Pittsburgh International
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My Dad was an avid fisherman. I rememeber a story he told me about a lake in Canada. He snagged a fishing lure on a sunken log. The water was clear enough that they could see the lure stuck to that log at the bottom of the lake. Dad was also an excellent swimmer. He was a lifeguard at Highland Park Pool when he was in high school. Try as he might, he couldn't swim down far enough to reach that log at the bottom of the lake.

Now that is crystal clear water.


Our rivers might be every bit as clean today as they were when George Washington crossed the Allegheny, but they're still river water, full of everything that gets washed into them between Olean NY and Clarksburg WV. To refer to them as "crystal clear" is still an exaggeration. (Although it is nice to have one of our merits exaggerated, as opposed to one of our faults.)

Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianTH View Post
I'd agree it is not fair to judge large rivers against the standard but for the same reasons it was an odd thing to say.
See that? You can get Brian to post. You just need the right bait...
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Old 08-04-2011, 01:08 PM
 
Location: Just East of the Southern Portion of the Western Part of PA
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I like to think that our rivers are flowing with nothing but bottled Aquafina.....
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Old 08-04-2011, 01:31 PM
 
Location: Hempfield Twp
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In the calmer pools on the Allegheny when there hasn't been rain recently, you can easily see the bottom in 10 feet or more.

Lake Erie, on the other hand, is super clear these days thanks to zebra mussels and you can easily see the bottom in 30'+ feet of water on calm days.
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Old 08-04-2011, 10:33 PM
 
Location: The canyon (with my pistols and knife)
14,173 posts, read 22,630,239 times
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If I pee in the river, does the water turn bright red?
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