Pittsburgh, PA — The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) along with the Pittsburgh Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and friends are pleased to invite the public to Pittsburgh’s first-ever Clean Water Festival. The festival, which commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the federal Clean Water Act, is being held from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm on Saturday, October 15, 2022, at the Millvale Riverfront Park in Millvale, PA.
Free and open to the public, the event will include food trucks, exhibitors, artist activities, presentations from water experts, Native American dance performance, water-related activities for all ages, and a free commemorative t-shirt giveaway to the first 200 attendees. As part of the festival, a riverfront trail bike parade hosted by Friends of the Riverfront from Millvale to Point State Park will be held. Later that evening, Three Rivers Waterkeeper will host a sunset cruise of Pittsburgh's iconic three rivers.
More details about the Clean Water Festival, including a full list of sponsors and partners, can be found at asce-pgh.org/CWA50th. The planning of this festival was a collaborative effort between representatives from regional water organizations including the Pittsburgh Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Friends of the Riverfront, UpstreamPgh, and Allegheny CleanWays among others.
Join PWSA!
PWSA will be at a table by the pavilion with complimentary giveaways, educational activities and demonstrations, customer assistance information, and more! Be sure to stop by while supplies last and learn some cool facts about how our water is treated, how stormwater is handled in Pittsburgh, and what programs we have available for customers in need. Be sure to check out the Riverside Chat in the festival pavilion from 2:15 - 3:00 pm to hear from our CEO, Will Pickering, and other Pittsburgh Regional Clean Water Leaders.
"We're pleased to be a part of this great community festival celebrating a milestone anniversary of the Clean Water Act," said Will Pickering, CEO of the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority. "Clean water is vital to public health in our communities and the economy, which is why ensuring the safe and reliable delivery of drinking water is and will continue to remain our top priority."
About the Clean Water Festival
Tom Batroney, President of the ASCE Pittsburgh Section: “ASCE Pittsburgh and our partners feel it’s important to commemorate the passage of the Clean Water Act (CWA), technically called the Federal Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1972, which put the nation on a new path toward achievement of improved water quality at a time when pollution was seemingly at its worst in this country. On October 18, 1972, the U.S. Congress - in a strongly bipartisan manner - overrode the veto of President Nixon by a vote of 247 to 23 in the House and 52 to 12 in the Senate to enact this transformative legislation. Prior to the Clean Water Act, clean water laws at the federal and state levels were inconsistent, and progress towards cleaning up our nation’s water from polluters was slow because there were no common sets of goals, objectives, guidelines, or dedicated funding.”
“In total, there are approximately 3.5 million miles of rivers and streams in the United States. To put this into perspective, if stretched from end-to-end, our nation's rivers and streams would be long enough to make a trip from the Earth to the Moon almost fifteen times," Batroney said. "As we approach the 50th anniversary of the CWA, the ASCE Pittsburgh Section and our partners launched the Clean Water Festival because we believe that it’s important to reflect on the purpose of the legislation, to celebrate what we have collectively achieved through this forward-looking and far-reaching law, and to consider what remains to be done to ensure clean water for current and future generations.”
The Clean Water Festival will feature a keynote presentation from the Director of the Pittsburgh Water Collaboratory, Dr. Emily M. Elliott, who has a particular interest in evaluating how infrastructure influences nutrient delivery to urban streams. Attendees will also have opportunities to engage in community-building panels, discussions, and participate in hands-on activities with a diverse group of academia, government, non-profit, and private sector water professionals from organizations such as ALCOSAN, Friends of the Riverfront, Allegheny CleanWays, UpstreamPGH, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the Pittsburgh Army Corps of Engineers, Three Rivers Waterkeeper, Allegheny CleanWays, the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, and many others.
“We’re excited to say that over 30 regional partners will be hosting water-themed interactive booths.” Tom Batroney added, “There will be something for attendees of all ages who come out to celebrate with us. We anticipate a very memorable day at the waterfront from start to finish, and clean water for years to come!”
Learn more and register at Pgh2o.com/clean-water-festival, or add the event to your calendar and share via Facebook!
