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Category: PWSA: After the Crisis

It’s a new era for the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority [PWSA]. The utility has new leadership, a newly expanded board and a whole new set of responsibilities. PWSA has become a regional leader in addressing flooding and basement backups as it prepares for a future of increased rainfall from climate change.

But the ghosts of its recent past linger. Its board members acknowledge a history fraught with political cronyism, incompetent management, unreliable bills and unhealthy drinking water. PWSA is undertaking its biggest investment in water infrastructure in the organization’s history but will have to balance its improvements with its impact on low-income customers.
Posted inPittsburgh water crisis and turnaround

Part 12 — A timeline of events that led the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority into and out of crisis

by Oliver Morrison

1984: Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority [PWSA] was created under the state’s Municipal Authorities Act to refurbish infrastructure across the system but the water department is still run by the city. 1995: The city transfers its water employees to PWSA and leases its water lines to the authority for $101 million over 30 years. PWSA […]