Governor Josh Shapiro this week announced the investment of $175.7 million for 25 drinking water and wastewater projects across 16 counties through the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST). The projects include replacing lead pipes, rehabilitating aging water pumps, and reducing costs resulting from water loss. The Shapiro Administration is committed to ensuring every community in the Commonwealth has access to clean drinking water, safeguarding public health and advancing environmental justice.
“Pennsylvanians have a constitutional right to clean air and pure water,” said Governor Josh Shapiro. “With these critical investments, we can rebuild our water infrastructure, create good-paying jobs, and guarantee that constitutional right holds for all Pennsylvania, regardless of their zip code. My Administration will continue to lead the way protect public health and the environment across the Commonwealth.”
The funding for these projects originates from a combination of state funds approved by voters, Growing Greener, Marcellus Legacy funds, the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act, federal grants to PENNVEST from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and recycled loan repayments from previous PENNVEST funding awards.
These updates will Pennsylvania support communities as they address backlogged water system needs and help ensure high-quality drinking water for Pennsylvanians.
“The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act brings significant opportunity to Pennsylvania’s water and sewer systems, facilitating its modernization and ensuring sustainable infrastructure,” said PENNVEST Chairman Dr. Brian Regli. “Investments in water infrastructure improvement projects across our counties enables the Commonwealth to thrive, both environmentally and economically.”
A list of project summaries follows:
Drinking Water Projects
Allegheny County
- *Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority – received a $34,159,707 loan to replace approximately 63,000 feet of 8- and 12-inch waterlines in their distribution system. The project will alleviate water outages and reduce water loss which will result in lower operational costs.
- *Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority – received a $2,474,472 grant and a $686,353 loan to replace lead service lines that will affect 300 residential customers in areas where water mains are being replaced in a partner project. These line replacements will prevent potential lead contamination in users’ drinking water and reduce water loss and the high operational costs associated with the loss of water resources.
Butler County
- *Municipal Authority of Buffalo Township – received a $2,817,809 loan to address two water infrastructure projects across two counties. In the Borough of Freeport in Armstrong County, approximately 4,000 feet of new polyvinyl chloride waterline will be installed with new gate valves and fire hydrants as well as lead service line replacements to replace existing water distribution lines that have reached the end of useful service life. In the second project, in Buffalo Township, Butler County, new drinking water service will be provided to a residential area to replace existing onlot groundwater wells that are contaminated with high manganese, iron, and arsenic levels, resulting in poor water quality and reduced quantity. Approximately 7,300 feet of new polyvinyl chloride waterline, 13 gate vales, 6 fire hydrants, and other equipment will be installed to connect 76 residential properties. The project will create increased water availability, water conservation and service reliability, and a portion of the project encompasses a federally disadvantaged community area.
Cambria County
- *Ebensburg Municipal Authority – received a $2,983,725 grant and a $4,922,366 loan to replace 23,200 feet of aged, cast-iron pipe that contain leaded joints. Also included in this project is the replacement of fire hydrants, curb boxes and non-lead service lines. Water loss will be reduced, and water reliability restored to the community.
- *Ebensburg Municipal Authority – received a $492,706 grant and a $136,664 loan to replace an estimated 50 lead service lines that may be encountered during the partnering distribution line project that will take place at the same time. The project will eliminate high lead exposure levels to citizens.
Erie County
- *Erie City Water Authority – received a $14,091,416 grant and a $3,908,584 loan to replace approximately 2,500 service connections consisting of cast iron pipe attached to water mains by lead goosenecks. The project will ensure that nearly all lead goosenecks in the City of Erie will be removed from service, eliminating high lead exposure levels to 31,748 households.
- *Erie City Water Authority – received a $20,000,000 loan through PENNVEST’s programmatic financing program for a five-phase system upgrade project. During phase one, a new pump station will be constructed to replace the outdated and non-compliant Asbury Tank Pump Station in Millcreek Township. The second phase includes the construction of a new storage tank in the South Booster Pressure District to address concerns about inadequate storage during periods of high demand and emergencies. The remaining phases include replacements of and/or updates to numerous water distribution lines, including some installed in the early 1920’s. The projects will ensure continued and compliant delivery of potable water to 57,727 households, decrease frequency of large water main breaks, improve service reliability, and reduce costs associated with recurring property restoration.
Lancaster County
- *City of Lancaster – received a $441,406 grant and a $430,934 loan to replace lead service line at approximately 27 homes in the City’s southwest neighborhood. These lead service line replacements will address compliance with the EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Revisions, increase reliability of water service to citizens, and decrease exposure to lead in all households within the project area.
Perry County
- Duncannon Borough – received a $650,000 loan to replace 1,300 feet of existing 6-inch water main with 8-inch water main, 17 residential water services. The Borough will also install 450 feet of new 8-inch water main, 13 new valves, 7 lead detection assemblies, and 60 leak detection instrumentation modules. The current water system will be rehabilitated to address leaks in the distribution system, and improve compliance with DEP requirements, eliminating potential outages currently affecting 10 percent of the Borough’s service connections.
Schuylkill County
- Schuylkill County Municipal Authority – received a $5,987,000 loan to construct a second 2,300,000-gallon, pressed-concrete water tank in New Castle Township at the existing Broad Mountain tank site. The new tank will provide additional emergency water storage, will offset temporary supply concerns, and will allow for system redundancy.
Somerset County
- *Conemaugh Township Municipal Authority – received a $9,153,505 grant and a $5,989,495 loan to replace approximately 50,000 feet of distribution line, 14,000 feet of service line, and 180 meters to address water loss and non-revenue water and rehabilitate two aging pump stations. The project will benefit 2,524 residential customers by reducing instances of water outages, water loss, and high production costs due to aged infrastructure components.
York County
- Red Lion Municipal Authority – received a $4,000,000 loan to restore an offline water storage tank to address issues with high water age and loss of chlorine residual, and to provide proper cycling between it and a second storage tank. A water tank will be installed to include a mixing system, a check valve on the inlet/outlet pipe, a stubbed 12-inch outlet pipe, and a 12-inch overflow line with a rubber overflow check valve and mesh stainless steel screen, concrete piping vault, and various other components. This project will also allow for the replacement of an existing generator and installation of security cameras, a new door, and fencing at the Greenbranch Pumping Station. The system’s chlorine residuals will be improved and reliability of potable water to the community will be restored.
Wastewater Projects
Allegheny County
- Deer Creek Drainage Basin Authority – received a $2,283,370 loan to replace 10,000 feet of broken, fractured and collapsed sanitary sewer line and replace the Hampshire Estates sewage treatment plant. The project will benefit 6,308 residential customers by reducing overflow events and raw sewage discharges into streams during wet weather.
Bedford County
- **Hopewell Borough – received a $1,528,412 grant and a $44,110 loan to improve their wastewater treatment process through the replacement of the existing plant with an extended aeration prepackaged plant. The project will resolve current violations of effluent quality and eliminate discharge violations that negatively impact water quality in the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River.
Bradford County
- Wyalusing Municipal Authority – received a $462,820 loan to construct a new headworks building and replace equipment that has reached end of useful life, such as a mechanical bar screen and bypass bar screen, and influent flow metering. Updates to fencing and yard piping will also be included in the project. The project will ensure the Authority continues to remain in compliance with effluent discharge limits.
Cambria County
- Cambria Township Sewer Authority – received a $1,000,000 loan to modify their treatment system by replacing chlorine disinfection with an ultraviolet unit. The project will bring the Authority into compliance with residual chlorine discharge limits.
- ***Cresson Township Municipal Authority – received a $3,398,312 grant and a $11,688 loan to extend sewer service to 45 residential customers in Munster Township, an area with failing onlot systems. The project will address unhealthy impacts of malfunctioning onlot systems in the project area.
- ***Forest Hills Municipal Authority – received a $6,911,923 grant and a $1,738,077 loan to construct a new aerobic digestion system, storage basins, nitrification/denitrification basins, a biofilter, an equipment building with pumps, blowers and a thickener, and a new ultraviolet channel for redundant disinfection. The project will improve the quality and quantity of dewatered sludge and address emerging contaminants by producing Class A biosolids.
Clarion County
- ***Rimersburg Borough Municipal Authority – received a $8,890,600 grant to complete upgrades to its existing wastewater treatment plant to include a new grit removal chamber, automated bar screen, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system, blowers, control building, and chlorine sterilization hardware. New, larger sequential batch reactors will also be constructed, and an existing lagoon will be lined for use as a permitted equalization basin. The project will double the plant’s capacity to 400,000 gallons-per-day, correct raw sewage discharge issues to the surrounding environment and Wildcat Run, and replace end-of-life components within the system.
Elk County
- Benezette Township – received a $106,700 grant and a $243,300 loan to install an effluent pump station, at its existing package wastewater treatment plant that was constructed in 2019, and 800 feet of new 2-inch-high density polyethylene pipe. Due to backups in an outfall pipe, inconsistent readings were being produced by the effluent meter and/or by the receiving stream, Trout Run, during high precipitation events when the waterway rises at or slightly above the meter. The project will satisfy discharge requirements, protect public health in the region, and allow for the unimpeded treated effluent to flow into Trout Run.
Luzerne County
- Aqua Pennsylvania Wastewater, Inc. – received a $7,800,000 loan to upgrade a wastewater treatment plant in the community of Laurel Lakes in Rice Township. The current system will be enhanced with a third treatment train and pumps to allow redundancy within the plant during maintenance. Other upgrades will take place in the plant’s headworks, aeration tanks, tank covers, service platforms, walkways and railing systems. The project will provide continued reliable wastewater service to the community and allow for continued regulatory compliance.
- **Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority – received a $19,000,000 loan to rehabilitate 5,300 feet of an existing sanitary gravity interceptor with the installation of a new structural spiral-wound, polyvinyl chloride steel reinforced lining system. Additionally, 13 manholes along the interceptor will be enhanced with the installation of a multilayer polymeric structural liner. This project will result in the continued functionality of a critical conveyance structure.
Perry County
- Landisburg Municipal Authority – received a $1,682,500 grant to replace 200 feet of 8-inch mains, various failing wastewater equipment and components, and a grinder pump station. The project will bring the Authority into compliance with discharge parameters, eliminate sewage discharge during wet weather events, and eliminate untreated and inadequately treated sewage from being released in the environment and Montour Creek.
Potter County
- **Galeton Borough Authority – received a $1,421,960 grant to install two new aerobic digesters and blowers, a sludge pump, central clarifier, and onsite sewer lines. The project will bring the Authority into compliance with discharge parameters, eliminate sewage discharge during wet weather events, eliminate untreated and inadequately treated sewage from being released in the environment and Pine Creek, and improve the plant’s sludge handling capacity.
Wyoming County
- Aqua Pennsylvania Wastewater, Inc. – received a $5,940,000 loan to upgrade the Rivercrest wastewater treatment plant in Tunkhannock Township. The aging and deteriorated components in the current system to be repaired or replaced include the influent sampler, sludge holding tank, aeration blowers, and pH adjustment of the influent. To remain compliant with current standards, a de-chlorination process will also be incorporated into the plant. The project will provide continued reliable wastewater service to the community and allow for continued regulatory compliance.
- denotes projects that are funded by Drinking Water State Revolving Funds
** denotes projects that are funded by Clean Water State Revolving Funds
*** denotes projects that are funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
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