With construction season underway, the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority is making progress on needed water, sewer, and stormwater improvements across Pittsburgh.  
The activity you are seeing is a sign of your ratepayer dollars at work. Last year was our most productive year on record with an investment of $122 million. This level of investment will continue throughout 2021 and for the next several years as we modernize our water systems.  

Many construction projects are already in full swing, while others are ramping up to start soon. This year, you will see us in many Pittsburgh neighborhoods replacing water mains and removing lead service lines, rehabilitating aging sewer pipes, and constructing new stormwater infrastructure. 

Water main and lead line replacements are a significant part of our capital improvement plan. Each year, we commit to replacing a dedicated amount to improve service reliability, reduce service disruptions, and improve water quality throughout our drinking water service area. We are currently completing an effort to replace 14 miles of water main in 10 Pittsburgh neighborhoods and will replace an additional six miles later this year under the 2021 water main replacement project.

Many of our sewer lines are more than a hundred years old and are the work horse of our system. To extend their life and improve service reliability, we are rehabilitating several miles of sewer lines. Projects under construction include the Small Diameter Sewer Reconstruction in Pittsburgh's Overbrook neighborhood and the 31st Ward Sewer Reconstruction Project in Lincoln Place.  

As more intense and frequent storms challenge Pittsburgh, improved stormwater management is necessary and new stormwater infrastructure is a growing part of our capital plan. We have recently started constructing the second phase of the Wightman Park Stormwater Project in Squirrel Hill, and construction of several stormwater projects are anticipated to start later this year, including the Maryland Avenue Stormwater Improvement in Shadyside, Four Mile Run in the Run neighborhood, and Thomas and McPherson in North Point Breeze.  

If our rate request, filed on April 13th, is approved by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, it would generate additional funding to continue the investment that is needed to improve the safety and reliability of our water systems, advance stormwater solutions, and provide enhanced assistance programs for customers who are having difficulty paying their PWSA bill.  

As a publicly owned and controlled utility, every dollar we receive from our customers is invested back into your water systems. The improvements that we are making today will provide clean, high quality, reliable water, wastewater, and stormwater services for years 
to come.  

For more information about the rate filing, please visit: pgh2o.com/OurWaterFuture.