Pittsburgh Water And Sewer Authority Working To Replace Lead Pipes, Increase ‘Water Equity’ – CBS Pittsburgh

By: John Shumway

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – When you turn on your tap, do you think about the quality of the water flowing into your glass?

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Not all faucets are created equal and the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority is taking steps to resolve water justice issues.

“In the past, sometimes the squeakiest wheel got the fat, and when you prioritize projects when you start, you know that the work may have gone to the communities that really wanted that investment, where very low-income communities come from very Legitimate reasons do not necessarily focus on issues related to PWSA. “
Will Pickering, CEO of PWSA, says.

The impetus is now to change that.

Pickering says the overall process of eliminating the lead pipes in the PWSA system.

“That’s about half of what we estimated at the beginning of 2016. And we will continue to work on it for the next five years,” he said.

Part of the historical problem was the cost to homeowners.

While PWSA replaces the supply line on the street, the replacement of the supply line to the house is up to the homeowner.

“Some of that depends on the properties of the property, but it could be over $ 10,000,” Pickering said.

This is a major reason why low-income neighborhoods do not ask for replacements.

However, in the last six months there has been a big change to help low-income customers.

According to Pickering, we operate on a sliding scale based on income: “If a customer is interested in replacing their leadership line, we have a variety of different offers that they can reduce or maybe get 100% that are paid for by PWSA become. And we can let our contractors do this work. “

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That is why PWSA is actively working to improve the water balance everywhere.

“One of the things PWSA has done is look at income data and prioritize where we replace our guidelines,” he said.

This means that a lot of construction work is coming to all parts of the city.

“We would like to make every effort to win our customers over to apply to the contractors we use or to PWSA,” said Pickering. “We know they should pay their bills and have every opportunity to benefit from the local economy, which these investments will really fuel.”

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The fact that all these miles of lead pipes are being replaced will take years. Meanwhile, Pickering says they are making changes to how the water treatment system is treated.

“What you want to do is treat the water in the treatment plant so that when that water comes in contact with the lead pipe, none of that lead will flake off or dissolve in the water that is being delivered to your home,” he said .

According to Pickering, water equity is key in every aspect of this massive upgrade.

“We want to weigh all issues appropriately to ensure we invest fairly in our system and with our customers.”

Equity is now a priority on the wastewater side of the PWSA neighborhood.

There is concern, Pickering said, that in some low-income areas, residents are not reporting incidents where sewers enter sewers.

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According to Pickering, the PWSA needs to know when these issues are occurring so that they can make corrections.