The

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) is a municipal authority in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. It is responsible for

water treatment Water treatment is any process that improves the quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recreation or many other uses, inc ...

and delivery systems in the city of Pittsburgh, as well as the city's sewer system. In a 2010 report, the authority reported 80,557 drinking water service connections and 107,151 sewage connections. The authority claims to serve approximately 83,000 customers. It is estimated that there are 930 miles of water lines and 7,300 Fire Hydrants served by PWSA.

History

The PWSA was created in 1984 to oversee a $200 million capital improvement program focused on Pittsburgh's water treatment and distribution system. This capital improvement program was primarily designed to ensure that the water system would meet various new requirements mandated by federal and state laws pertaining to safe drinking water. The largest project undertaken in the initial years of the PWSA was to cover all open water reservoirs, replace them with closed tanks, or else enact another acceptable solution, such as the installation of a membrane filtration plant at the open Highland Reservoir No. 1, which is the focal point of Highland Park. The City of Pittsburgh Water Department was absorbed by the PWSA in 1995, and in 1999, the PWSA also assumed the responsibility of operating and maintaining Pittsburgh's sewer system.

System statistics

* Water Treatment Plants: 2 * Pump Stations: 11 * Total Miles of Water Lines: 964 * Fire Hydrants: 7,462 * Total Miles of Sewer Lines: 1,211 * Catch Basins (Storm Drains): 24,548

Current Projects

As of March 2020 and since June 2016, the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority has been working to replace

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...

service lines. These lines had been built with lead because it was a readily available material and was easy to work with. However, exposure to lead is directly connected with multiple health problems, particularly in children. No lead is present in water that has been treated by PWSA; lead only enters water through older service lines as it travels to buildings. PWSA has been working in conjunction with local home and business owners to replace these pipes. A more comprehensive and frequently-updated list of current projects may be found on PWSA's main website (https://pgh2o.com/projects-maintenance). Projects conducted by the PWSA typically involve updating older plumbing systems, building new lines, and creating greener solutions to stormwater issues such as parks.

References

Water companies of the United States Water management authorities in the United States Government of Pittsburgh {{watersupply-stub

History

System statistics

Current Projects

See also

References