$9 million investment brings water treatment plant up to regulation
Pennsylvania American Water says nearly $9 million in recently completed upgrades at its half-century-old E.H. Aldrich Treatment Complex in Washington County will improve the plant's efficiency and put it in compliance with federal regulations.
The company on Friday showed off improvements at the plant in Elrama, along the Monongahela River, which include replacing the gas chlorine used to treat water with liquid chlorine to address concerns about storage of the chemical. The company can manufacture liquid chlorine at a 4,000-square-foot facility constructed at the Aldrich complex.
"These improvements enable this facility to meet new regulatory standards and improve our treatment process. We're also proud that our investment provided an economic boost to Southwestern Pennsylvania," said Kathy Pape, PAWC president.
Built in 1960, the Aldrich plant can deliver 50 million gallons of water per day to communities in southern Allegheny and northern Washington counties.
The upgrades are part of a roughly $101 million investment to improve service and safety at its Pittsburgh-area water treatment facilities, including the Hays Mine Treatment Plant, Becks Run Pumping Station and Arlington Booster Station, company officials said.
Improvements at Hays, where surge tanks are being installed, might curb the effects of water main breaks -- a chronic problem in recent years in some of the region's older neighborhoods.
"You can pretty much tell the age of the infrastructure by the age of the housing stock in a neighborhood," said Jay Lucas, manager of the company's renovation projects.
"Nothing is more important to our residents than safe, clean drinking water. These improvements will pay dividends for years to come," said state Sen. Tim Solobay, D-Canonsburg, whose district includes the Aldrich facility.
Since it was founded in 1984, the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority has spent more than $800 million in upgrades, the company said.
"We face the problems of aging infrastructure and increasingly stringent -- but good -- regulations. That translates into money, and that water rates are going to rise," said Stanley States, director of water quality and production.
The Federal Safe Drinking Water Act was passed in 1974 and has been amended twice.
A waterborne outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in Milwaukee in 1993 posed a critical turning point in the water business. About 403,000 people became ill, with 104 dying, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
"Milwaukee changed everything throughout the country. There was consensus that this could just never happen again," States said.
