Dispatch Dedication
Due to water main breaks, sewer backups, and other service related issues, our dispatch department is open 24/7 in order to assist our customers in the unfortunate case of an emergency. We are very lucky to have a team of dispatchers that often sacrifice their weekends and holidays in order to process and help resolve each report they receive. Dispatcher Shannon Deasy was recently complimented by a customer who wrote that Shannon was “very caring” in helping her and that “PWSA personnel in the office and the field are always so professional!” Thank you to Shannon and the rest of our dispatchers for your dedicated public service!
Pgh2o Cools Down for Warmth: Raising funds to build awareness for our Hardship Cash Assistance Program
Team Pgh2o in the icehouse (Pictured from left to right: Compliance Analysts Reggie Brown and Sarah Viszneki, PUC Compliance Manager Brittany Schacht, and Public Affairs Associate Hali Hetz).
At the end of January, we participated in Dollar Energy Fund’s sixth annual Cool Down for Warmth two-day fundraising event to build awareness for the many families in Pittsburgh who will go without heat during the cold winter months, while attempting to raise money for utility assistance grants.
Team Pgh2o, which consisted of four employees from our Compliance Department, helped to raise the final dollars of our $2,500 goal by cooling down in the giant icehouse built in the heart of Market Square in downtown Pittsburgh.
We surpassed our goal by raising a total of $3,269! All funds will go directly to our Hardship Cash Assistance Program, which provides cash grants up to $300 per year for customers at or below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. Thank you to all of our generous donors that helped us reach well-beyond our goal, supporting invaluable utility aid for the families that need it most this winter!
Local Students Imagine the Future of Water: The Ellis School wins first place at the 21st Pittsburgh Regional Future City Competition
The Ellis Middle School’s Future City Team photographed in Washington DC with their fictitious city
Ellis Middle School’s Future City Team was posed with an engineering challenge – “Choose a threat to your city’s water supply and design a resilient system to maintain a reliable supply of clean water.” Their solution focused on fighting the threat of microplastics in water. The scale model of their fictitious city features decentralized modular water treatment plants that use electrocoagulation and vortex settlers to remove impurities from water.
After winning the regional competition, they advanced to the Future City Engineering Competition National Finals in Washington, DC where they received a special award for Most Innovative Design of Infrastructure Systems
We are proud of the Future City Team’s achievements and are excited to see that our next generation is imagining innovative engineering solutions to protect our water supply. Congratulations to the Ellis School and the team of mature, driven girls that envisioned this dynamic solution.
