Leave it to the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority to prove the maxim that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. For the second time in less than three years, the state Department of Environmental Protection has rapped the PWSA for using certain treatment chemicals without permission.
But that wasn’t the least of the perennially ineffectual agency’s woes Thursday. It also was repairing a leak draining an estimated 10,000 gallons of water from its system every minute, was under fire because of an unflattering audit by city Controller Michael Lamb and was bracing for an upcoming review by state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, who pledged to put the agency “under a new magnifying glass.”
It all gives new urgency to Mayor Bill Peduto’s promise to set up a panel to chart the future of the PWSA, plagued by years of personnel, billing, flood-control and customer-service problems and criticized two weeks ago for a low-chlorine reading that forced 100,000 Pittsburghers to boil their water for about two days.
The PWSA also faces the monumental task of replacing lead pipes. An overhaul of the agency can’t come fast enough. It could spring a new leak at any time.
In 2014, the DEP cited the PWSA for substituting one type of corrosion inhibitor for another without permission. The agency eventually resumed use of the original chemical, and the state concluded there had been no impact on drinking water quality.
Lesson learned? Not quite. According to a report Thursday by the Post-Gazette’s Don Hopey, the DEP cited the agency again in January, this time for using coagulating agents that hadn’t been approved for the agency’s treatment process. State officials are still determining what impact, if any, the change had on water quality and public health. So far, there is no evidence of harm.
About 11 a.m. Thursday, the PWSA announced it had found the 10,000-gallon-a-minute leak — in a 60-inch line between a reservoir and a treatment plant — and was scrambling to repair it. At about the same time, Mr. Lamb released the draft version of a PWSA performance audit that he said found problems “at every turn” between 2012 and last year. Many of the issues, such as leadership turnover, billing problems and the challenge of replacing lead pipes, were well known.
However, the audit provided new details, such as how poorly installed meters contributed to billing problems, and helpful recommendations, such as his proposal to streamline the automated phone-answering process so that customers reporting emergencies spend less time on hold. He also urged the agency to work with vendors to arrange special prices for consumers concerned about lead so they can install filters or have their homes’ individual service lines replaced.
Mr. DePasquale, who attended a press conference with Mr. Lamb, said he was invited to review the PWSA’s governance structure and decision-making by Mr. Peduto and the PWSA board.
The agency needs all the help it can get. As Mr. DePasquale pointed out, consumer confidence is at a low ebb.
First Published: February 17, 2017, 5:00 a.m.