PWSA Receives $14.6 Million in Grants and Low-Interest Loans from PENNVEST

Funding will replace approximately 1,200 lead lines

 

Pittsburgh, PA – Today, the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) was awarded a $14.6 million funding package from the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) for an upcoming Lead Service Line Replacement Project. The project will inspect all service lines in subsets of neighborhoods across the service area and replace any lead service lines at no cost to the customer. The work will remove the risk of lead service lines from homes and improve PWSA’s service line material inventory.

The funding package is split between $10 million in grants and $4.6 million in loans. This predominantly grant-based award is money that does not need to be repaid and provides greater flexibility for investing limited ratepayer dollars. The project will replace approximately 1,200 lead service lines at priority locations within our service area. 

“We are pleased to be able to continue our efforts to find and replace all public lead service lines in our system, while also replacing privately owned lead lines at no cost to the customer,” said PWSA CEO Will Pickering. “We thank the Shapiro Administration and the Board of PENNVEST for their continued support to make PWSA’s water system lead-safe with this grant-driven award.”

Since 2018, PWSA has received over $62 million in grants and $53 million in loans, totaling over $115 million in state funding from state and federal sources for lead line programs. External funding keeps rates as low as possible during an unprecedented level of investment in our essential water systems. As a public water utility, PWSA is eligible for these more cost-effective grants and loans that are invested directly back into the system without profit motives.

Since 2016, our award-winning, nationally-recognized Community Lead Response has replaced over 10,200 lead service lines throughout the PWSA service area, putting it halfway to its goal of replacing all lead in the system. As a proud steward of public health, PWSA is committed to a lead-free water distribution system and improved drinking water quality. Our most recent round of lead testing reflects a steady pattern of low lead levels, which have been well within regulatory requirements since the summer of 2020. Maintaining low lead levels in the immediate term is important as lead lines are replaced over time.

crews replace 10,000th lead line Local leaders, media, and PWSA staff look on as crews replace the 10,000th lead service in February 2023.

As with all PWSA projects that remove lead, the 2024 Neighborhood Lead Service Line Replacement Project will use the following criteria to select work areas:  

  • Blood lead levels in children provided by the Allegheny County Health Department’s (ACHD) universal testing program 
  • Census income data and other data regarding women of childbearing age and children 
  • PWSA historical and verification records of lead lines 
  • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) environmental justice mapping data

PWSA's Community Lead Response has created 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. 

Outreach to vendors through the Pennsylvania Department of General Services (DGS) ensures DBE businesses are aware of opportunities and the ability to compete for work funded by EPA financial assistance dollars. PWSA's Supplier Diversity Policy states a goal of 10-25% of all contracts are to be awarded to DBE firms. To learn of these upcoming PWSA opportunities, DBE firms are encouraged to register with our procurement portal. 

“We thank our state partners for their support of this important work,” said PWSA Finance Director Ed Barca. “Funding these projects through state loan and grant packages is an effective way to continue the important work of removing lead from our system and improving water quality for generations to come.”

This project is anticipated to kick off in early 2024. To learn more about PWSA’s lead line replacement projects, visit pgh2o.com/lead-programs.