PWSA Executive Director Robert A. Weimar

As you will read in this month’s Currents, 2019 was the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority’s most productive year ever. We invested nearly $107 million to improve our critical infrastructure and facilities. We replaced over 3,000 lead service lines, upgraded our water treatment to protect against corrosion from old lead pipes, improved customer service, added new technologies to make our work more efficient, replaced over 10,000 outdated water meters, and kicked off an over $1 billion plan to renew our water and sewer system. 

PWSA's Customer Service Department

Equally as important, we bolstered our workforce by promoting stellar performers and adding over 45 individuals to our team, including senior leaders in engineering and construction, customer service, field operations, finance, and program management. In addition to new hires, we provided training and development opportunities for our existing employees so they can learn new skills and improve the services they provide our customers. This larger team is helping us meet the increased expectations of our regulators at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.  

As we enter 2020, our team will explicitly align everything we do with our organizational goals, which are: 

• Protect Public Health and the Environment
• Ensure Customer and Stakeholder Satisfaction
• Improve Infrastructure Reliability
• Maintain a High Performing Workforce
• Be an Effective and Accountable Publicly-Owned and Managed Organization

I’m not sure about you, but each time I read our goals, I am struck by their criticality. Our neighbors and our families are relying on us to achieve them. Failure is not an option. Meeting and exceeding our goals will undoubtedly require resources from our customers so we can build and renew our infrastructure. We’re also pursuing and have received funding from foundations and the state and federal government to alleviate the cost burden placed on our ratepayers. However, money alone will not ensure our success. We need people who are dedicated to our mission to drive the projects and initiatives to the finish line. 

Last year we made significant strides building this core team of experienced leaders and technical experts, but we’re still looking for a few good women and men to join us. If our goals are something you or someone you know would be inspired to work toward, please monitor our job openings at pgh2o.com/about-us/careers. If you do not see a position relevant to your background, but think you could bring value to our organization, send over a copy of your resume to hr@pgh2o.com.

I hope you share my excitement for the opportunities to improve in the new year. With a core team of experienced leaders and technical experts in place, our customers can be assured that we will continue to Get Stuff Done (GSD) for them in 2020 and beyond.