The Department of Environmental Protection this week announced it has awarded a $2 million grant to 3 Rivers Wet Weather Inc. to foster regionalization of municipal sewage collector systems among communities served by the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority to more efficiently maintain and operate those systems.

“Pennsylvania is facing nearly $20 billion in unmet infrastructure investment needs, a large portion of which must be applied to our aging and deteriorating wastewater systems,” said Cathy Curran Myers, DEP Deputy Secretary for Water Management. “This is too large a financial burden for ratepayers to bear, and while we’ve made new investments in these critical systems available, more work needs to be done and we must begin looking at alternatives to simply upgrading each and every facility.”

“Regionalizing the 83 different sewer collection systems in the ALCOSAN service area will result in cost effective operation and maintenance of the systems and will effectively prioritize needed capital improvements,” said Myers. “With 4,000 miles of sewers serving more than a million people, it is essential to region’s economy and quality of life that the infrastructure be well maintained and reliable.”

With the $2 million grant from DEP, 3 Rivers Wet Weather will develop a database that includes asset, resource and financial information from the 82 suburban municipalities. The information can then be used by the municipalities to develop strategies and alternatives to regionalize municipal sewage college systems and produce a regionalization plan.

The grant-funded work will build on the earlier efforts by 3 Rivers Wet Weather in 2002 to survey and map manholes and develop and implement a flow monitoring system.

3 Rivers Wet Weather was formed in 1998 to help communities address the issue of untreated sewage and stormwater overflowing into the region's waterways during wet weather. Such overflows affect Allegheny County’s primary source of drinking water and make water unacceptable for recreational contact.

Combined sewers, or those designed to carry wastewater and stormwater, were originally constructed to overflow during storms to prevent treatment facilities from being overwhelmed.

Separate sanitary sewers were designed to carry wastewater and stormwater in separate systems, but because these systems are typically older and in poorer condition, stormwater is allowed to enter the system through breaks in the sewer lines. During periods of wet weather, stormwater inundates the sanitary lines, mixes with sewage, and overflows into area rivers, streams and basements.

There are 21 combined sewer communities in the ALCOSAN service area—the largest being the City of Pittsburgh—and 54 with separate sewer systems. Eight communities are served by both types of systems.

Wet-weather overflows resulting from combined and separate sewer systems are now illegal under state and federal water quality laws.

In 2004, DEP and Allegheny County Health Department negotiated consent orders and agreements with 80 of the municipalities and associated sewer authorities in the ALCOSAN service area. The three remaining municipalities are expected to be under agreement by the end of this year.

The agreements outline the steps necessary for communities to begin upgrading the sewerage infrastructure, limiting combined sewer overflows, and eliminating separate sewer overflows.

Cooperation and regionalization are themes that have emerged during recent public meetings held across Pennsylvania by members of the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Task Force.

NewsClips: Local Group Gets $2 Million for Sewer Systems

State Grant to Aid Municipal Cooperation on Sewer Upgrade

7/18/2008