The US Water Alliance’s One Water Summit brought four days of collaboration, relationship building, and innovative idea sharing to Pittsburgh this July, and Pittsburgh Water played a big role.

The One Water Summit seeks to achieve a sustainable water future for all people by bringing together bridge-builders in the water sector from across the globe to share their experiences and collaborate through plenaries and breakout sessions, immersive learning labs, and local site visits throughout the host city. By gathering and strategizing as a sector, the Summit’s aim is to create impactful approaches in water advocacy, management, funding, access, participation, and further opportunities for improvement. 

Pittsburgh being selected to host this year’s gathering was a welcomed indication of the wide-ranging achievements of Pittsburgh Water and other regional partners. Pittsburgh has served as a national model for centering water quality and equity through community-focused outreach, lead service line replacements, and capital investments in infrastructure. As the local host organization, we had the opportunity to put these achievements on full display! Below is a recap of the ways we put Pittsburgh Water’s journey front and center at this year’s One Water Summit. 

One Water Summit attendees had the opportunity to explore the ongoing construction of our new Highland Reservoir Pump Station.

Some of the most engaging content One Water Summit attendees can experience are local site visits throughout the host city. This year, Pittsburgh Water was a primary focus of these immersive visits, and we had quite a bit to share! Site visits included the following:

Transformation and Preservation: Strengthening Water Infrastructure in a Shared Space  

Pittsburgh Water invited One Water Summit attendees to explore the ongoing construction of our new Highland Reservoir Pump Station. Part of our transformative Water Reliability Plan, the new 56 million-gallon-per-day pump station will enhance water distribution and improve service reliability for nearly two-thirds of Pittsburgh Water’s drinking water customers. The tour provided an intimate look at the intricacies of the construction project and how we engaged with the Highland Park community to balance the construction of a modern pump station while preserving the idyllic setting of Highland Park. 

Continuing the theme of critical drinking water investments, this tour also stopped by Perry North to observe a lead service line replacement. Attendees got up close and personal to see how this simple, yet important construction process is completed with minimal impact to customers’ property. The construction team walked through the various aspects of the work and answered questions while the replacement was completed. As the federal Lead and Copper Rule advances the removal of lead lines across the country, sharing Pittsburgh Water’s story of lead line removal is more important than ever. 

Community-Centered Watershed Restoration: Frick Park, Nine Mile Run, Fern Hollow, and Wightman Park  

Attendees explored the Nine Mile Run Watershed with UpstreamPgh, focusing on a people-first approach to restoration in Frick Park. The tour highlighted the Nine Mile Run Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration by the US Army Corps of Engineers and the upcoming Fern Hollow Valley restoration following the 2022 bridge collapse. The tour then continued to Wightman Park, observing stormwater improvements Pittsburgh Water and the City of Pittsburgh have made. Features included a wetland rain garden, retention tanks, and “green streets” designed to direct stormwater runoff, helping to manage 1.5 inches of runoff from 12.2 acres of impervious surfaces, reducing the impacts of storm related flooding. 

Water Treatment and Reliability: Safeguarding Every Drop for Customers Now and in the Future  

Pittsburgh Water welcomed One Water Summit attendees on a behind-the-scenes tour of our Water Treatment Plant. Located along the Allegheny River, this tour explored the essential process that transforms raw river water into the safe, healthy, vital resource our customers rely on every day. Attendees discovered the history of Pittsburgh’s waterways and water treatment practices, providing an understanding of the challenges and solutions we face to keep our city’s water flowing. The tour also included an overview of our ABC Project, a cornerstone of our Water Reliability Plan designed to renew pumping capacity and improve treatment reliability, resulting in safer, more reliable water service for current and future generations of customers. 

Pittsburgh Water CEO Will Pickering is joined by stakeholders to discuss how collaboration continues to positively shape Pittsburgh's water future.

From Conflict to Collaboration: Across Three Watersheds  

Being a city of three rivers and plenty of bridges, water is central to the Pittsburgh identity. We are also a city with a history of resource extraction, legacy pollution, aging infrastructure, and other challenges. That said, our region has been making great progress in addressing these challenges, in no small part through partnerships and collaboration. This Plenary session featured Pittsburgh Water CEO Will Pickering, board member Dr. Jamil Bey, Women for a Healthy Environment Executive Director Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis, and ALCOSAN Director of Operations Douglas Jackson, and examined how collaborative efforts across communities, organizations, and local government continue shaping the future of Pittsburgh.

Construction Communications Project Manager Mora McLaughlin talks with community partners about reimagining infrastructure improvements as opportunities to invest in their communities.

More than Just Pipes: Water Infrastructure as a Tool for Community Investment in Pittsburgh 

Improving water quality requires system-wide improvements, particularly in a city like Pittsburgh where much of our water infrastructure is several decades old. When taking into account the lived experiences of those residing in historically overlooked neighborhoods, the benefits of these large-scale system upgrades can go beyond the traditional purview of utilities. In this session, Construction Communications Project Manager, Mora McLaughlin, was joined by representatives from community organizations who have pushed Pittsburgh Water through diligent advocacy, towards community-centered lead policies in designing the implementation of our Lead Service Line Replacement (LSLR) programs and Water Reliability Plan. They discussed these lived experiences as case studies on how utilities can work with community partners to reimagine infrastructure improvements as opportunities to invest in their communities and produce co-benefits. 

Fireside Conversations on Water Careers 

Talent Acquisition & Workforce Development Manager Sarah Collins joined this communal session that brought together students, young professionals, mentors, and institutional leaders to explore how the development of the water sector workforce requires various experiences and positions. Structured as a series of five intimate, 15-minute fireside chats, participants put the spotlight on real-world experiences, including mentorship opportunities, HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities)-to-career pathways, community-university partnerships, philanthropic investments, and youth engagement. This immersive discussion provided a view of how individuals and institutions are collaborating to prepare the future leaders of the water sector and make water workforce opportunities more visible, accessible, and resilient. 

As the local host organization, Pittsburgh Water was also given the opportunity to activate an entire lounge area within the Summit’s event space. We took this opportunity to create a series of displays that explained Pittsburgh Water’s history, our journey to improve water quality and reliability over the past several years, and our ambitious plans for the near future. By welcoming Summit attendees into this space whenever they needed a quiet moment away from presentations, we were able to share more about our city’s water story and invite water leaders from across the globe to tap in and follow our progress.