Protecting Our Water, Protecting Our Region

In response to recent concerns about lead levels in the water within the City of Pittsburgh, we have volunteered to invest $500,000 in the City’s $1 million “Safe Water Plan.” This plan aims to provide free lead filters to every Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority and Pennsylvania American Water Co. customer in the City of Pittsburgh. Though the filter plan is only a “band-aid” on larger infrastructure challenges, city councilwoman and PWSA board member Deb Gross described it as a huge step in the right direction:  “Last week, we were really prioritizing households with children. And today, a week later, we’re talking about all households in the City of Pittsburgh.” We are proud to be supporting such a crucial project to ensure the health and wellbeing of Pittsburgh residents. As our CEO Morgan O’Brien put it in his Facebook Live video, “Some might look at it as untraditional—a gas company stepping in to help a water company—but the reality is, we look at it as helping our customers.”

While our goal has always been to reduce our carbon footprint through the safe delivery of natural gas, we also extend our environmental commitment beyond these efforts. And helping to keep our region’s water clean and safe is another initiative that we are passionate about. In addition to our investment in the City’s Safe Water Plan, we also have a partnership with the River Alert Information Network (RAIN). RAIN’s mission is “to ensure the protection of public health and quality drinking water across the Southwestern Pennsylvania and Northern West Virginia region.” They monitor river water quality for potential safety risks and communicate that information to local decision makers. They also support the health of water systems and the resilience of our water supply by providing regional source water protection plans. As this partnership continues to grow, we’re thrilled to see the progress in some of RAIN’s most recent projects:

• Communications Reporting Expansion: We committed to a $15,000 matching grant for a campaign to increase RAIN’s communications reporting throughout the region. RAIN utilizes a system of Welbeck Secure Solutions communications boxes to monitor the state of river water by location. This campaign will incorporate new boxes into high-priority water systems to increase RAIN’s ability to support real-time data reporting from up to 10 additional sites in the region. According to RAIN’s Program Manager Bryce Aaronson, “Purchasing and prioritizing [these] locations is RAIN's top priority. We're grateful to Peoples Natural Gas and our members’ support for this key step.”

• Carnegie Science Center Exhibit: We also donated $5,000 to help RAIN develop the “H2Oh!” exhibit at the Carnegie Science Center. The majority of the grant has been used to purchase a Hach source water monitoring panel that will illustrate how RAIN’s early warning spill detection system monitors real-time river water quality. The exhibit will include a real-time map of the water quality across the Upper Ohio River Basin, including parameters such as water temperature, conductivity, and pH. In addition, the exhibit will house dummy Hach probes to show what they look like and how the testing sites are arranged. Ultimately, RAIN hopes to increase public awareness of this issue and highlight the constant effort that goes in to ensuring clean water for all.

As always, we are delighted to support RAIN in their efforts to improve public safety in our region. To keep up-to-date on these projects, the Safe Water Plan, and our other environmental initiatives, be sure to follow @peoplesnatgas on Facebook and Twitter.