About

A look at how our Operations crew helps fulfill this promise.

All of us here at PWSA take immense pride in delivering clean, safe drinking water to the more than 500,000 consumers we serve in the region. In a typical day we produce an average of 70 million gallons of drinkable water, but the water treatment process takes longer. From the point where water is drawn from the Allegheny River to the point where it reaches your tap, that process can take up to three days.

Rigorous water quality monitoring and testing and ongoing maintenance of our distribution system ensures the continued delivery of clean drinking water. As you can imagine, this takes every member of our PGH2O team!

Our Field Operations teams are out in our service area daily maintaining and upgrading our water infrastructure, including pipes, valves, fire hydrants, and water mains. A good example of routine field work that maintains water quality is fire hydrant flushing, something our customers have likely seen in the spring and summer. Flushing ensures that proper flow and pressure is available in our water distribution system, removes sediment, and serves as another water quality checkpoint – our Field crews check the chlorine levels of the water to ensure it’s in an appropriate range.

For more information, please view our brief explainer video.

When you see lead service line replacements in your neighborhood, it’s likely that work is being undertaken by one of our large contractor partners. While our in-house Engineering & Construction team manages this work, large contractors, who can leverage their size and equipment to perform a greater volume of work across our service area, often execute it.

PWSA’s Field Operations team also plays a crucial role here. In fact, since 2016, our Operations crews have replaced 1,558 public lead lines – that’s approximately 15% of our total replacements!

This is due to matters of efficiency. When a service line or water main leaks, PWSA’s Operations team responds to evaluate the issue and make repairs. If they find the service line to be lead, or if the leaking water main could impact a lead line during repair, they begin coordinating replacement of that line. That means not only does our team fix the leak that’s impacting customers, but they also replace the lead service line, leaving that customer, who just recently had an issue, with a lead-free service line and improved water quality.

During water meter inspections or replacements, Operations carefully inspects the private service line as it enters the home and records the pipe’s material, which is then provided to the customer and recorded in our system, helping us to plan future investments. Learn more via our new Water Quality one-pager.

We’ve accomplished a great deal so far this year, with much more on the docket for the balance of 2023. In a fast-paced world, news can be easy to miss. Below, you’ll find a compilation of some of our greatest moments so far this year. For more information beyond the accompanying summary of each headline, click the link or visit pgh2o.com.

Water quality and the ongoing removal of lead service lines.

Highlighting Our Successful 2022 Community Lead Response. We’ve made great progress to get the lead out of our drinking water system, recording some of the lowest lead levels in our history since 2020.

PWSA Celebrates 10,000 Lead Service Line Replacements with Federal, State and Local Leaders. In February, we officially replaced our 10,000th lead service line. Now, with more than half removed from our drinking water system, we’re on track to remove all lead service lines by 2026.

2022 Water Quality Report. Our most recent Water Quality Report shows a clean bill of health for drinking water quality. With a highly qualified Compliance Team, we are well-positioned to deliver on future regulatory obligations mandated by state and federal agencies and fulfill our mission to protect public health and the environment through the delivery of safe and reliable water services.

Understanding Your Water Quality. We summarized some of the important techniques our Water Quality and Lab teams use to ensure the water coming to your tap is safe and reliable.

Modernizing and funding large, century-old infrastructure improvements.

PWSA Completes First Water Reliability Plan Project. In late 2022, we completed the first phase of these once-in-a-generation projects and immediately began construction of the second phase. These improvements will strengthen our water system, add needed redundancy, and, when complete, provide PWSA’s drinking water customers with more reliable water services.

PWSA Announces $52.4 Million EPA Loan for Water Reliability Plan Projects. PWSA was the proud recipient of a more than $50 million loan as part of the EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) to help fund these large-scale projects. We’ll also use approximately $93 million from a prior PENNVEST funding award.

Your Ratepayer Dollars Explained. As a publicly owned and operated utility, every dollar we receive from ratepayers is reinvested back into our infrastructure and the improvements we’re making to provide high-quality, reliable water, wastewater, and stormwater services. Low-interest loans from state and federal funding partners and grants that do not need to be repaid will, over time, save ratepayers millions of dollars in comparison to traditional financing.

Replacing aging infrastructure in Pittsburgh neighborhoods.

Snapshot: 2022 Year in Review. In 2022, we replaced seven miles of water main, rehabbed 18.6 miles of sewer main, and replaced 233 storm drains and 88 fire hydrants. Our rehabilitation of aging infrastructure is an investment in Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods to ensure safe, reliable water, sewer, and fire protection services for years to come.

And that’s certainly not all. We recently published a full 2022 Year in Review report, which is available on our website. We encourage you to review that comprehensive overview of our work and ongoing transformation.

Funding advances rehabilitation of 56 miles of aging sewer main, improving reliability and safety of sewer services throughout Pittsburgh

**Pittsburgh, PA - **Today, the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) was awarded a $59.1 million low-interest loan from the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) for the 2023 – 2025 Small and Large Sewer Rehabilitation programs. With this funding, we can more quickly complete needed work on our sewer system while improving services that are essential to everyone in Pittsburgh. 

“With continued support from the PENNVEST Board, Governor Shapiro, state leaders and the City of Pittsburgh, PWSA can effectively extend the useful life of the sewer system while minimizing the impact to ratepayers,” said PWSA Chief Executive Officer, Will Pickering. “Our partnership with PENNVEST is vitally important for strengthening the sewer system that every Pittsburgh resident and business relies on.”

Sewers provide a simple, yet essential function of moving sewage from homes and businesses to our regional wastewater treatment plant along the Ohio River. Some of our sewers are more than a century old and due to age and condition need repair. This round of funding will evaluate and rehabilitate approximately 56 miles of aging sewer mains throughout Pittsburgh from 2023 to 2025. The first neighborhoods slated for this sewer rehabilitation work include the West End, Knoxville, Westwood, and Summer Hill.

The 2023 – 2025 Small and Large Diameter Sewer Rehabilitation programs, will rehabilitate sewer mains ranging in size from 8-inches to 120-inches in diameter. This proactive work minimizes the need for the costly and disruptive replacement of sewer lines, often buried deep beneath the street. With technological advancements and improved construction techniques, we can more effectively rehabilitate sewer lines by either repairing the pipe or installing a liner to its interior. Once cured, the liner will secure cracks and prevent leaks for many years.  

PWSA's sewer rehabilitation programs are creating contracting opportunities for construction firms based in Pittsburgh and across the state. The use of PENNVEST funding and PWSA’s own procurement policies requires a robust and thorough Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) solicitation process. Investing in DBE firms improves the economic vitality of our region and can help to create jobs that stay in our community.   

Outreach to vendors through the Pennsylvania Department of General Services Supplier Search ensures DBE firms are aware of opportunities and the ability to compete for work funded by EPA financial assistance dollars. PWSA's Supplier Diversity Policy, will direct approximately $1,659,377  of this funding to DBE firms. To learn of these upcoming PWSA opportunities, DBE firms are encouraged to register with our procurement portal.   

“Our partnership with PENNVEST is essential for implementing our ambitious $1.4 billion capital program,” said PWSA Director of Finance, Ed Barca. “Their ability to provide low interest loans and grants will over time, save ratepayers millions of dollars in comparison to traditional financing.” 

Since 2018, PWSA has received from PENNVEST a combination of $610,822,731 in low interest loans and $35,673,742 in grants, totaling $646,496,473. Over time, funding from state and federal partners keeps rates as low as possible during an unprecedented level of investment in our essential water systems. 

As a publicly owned and operated water utility, every dollar we receive is reinvested back into the water systems that serve those living and working in Pittsburgh. To learn more about the Authority’s finances, please visit  www.pgh2o.com/about-us/finance.