2025 Mon Valley Independent Journey Edition Article
Under new leadership and with renewed vision, the Authority of the Borough of Charleroi continues to keep service rates among the lowest in the surrounding area and all of Western Pennsylvania, while continuing to meet federal and state mandated regulations. The rates remain low as the Authority continues to face increasing operating costs for equipment and chemicals.
Our current water treatment technique, membrane filtration, ensures very high-quality water under all conditions that will meet or exceed current water quality standards and expected additions in the future. Three of the four membrane filter sets have been replaced as part of the Authority’s ten-year capital improvement plan.
The Authority continues to upgrade its overall system. The Authority is also nearly complete with replacing aging technology and electrical equipment responsible for monitoring the Water Treatment and Distribution Systems. This work coincides with its upgrade to its cybersecurity protection system. Additionally, we recently had a 1000KW generator installed at the Water Filtration Plant that provides backup power in emergencies and eliminates electrical service disruptions.
A proactive approach to upgrading our aging waterlines continues to be a priority for us. Waterline replacement occurred in the City of Monessen in the Montraver Plan and a new connection was installed between Rostraver Street and Third Street. Upcoming projects on waterlines include those to take place in Speers, Twilight and Somerset Township are to begin soon. A six-inch line will be replaced on State Street between Speers and Twilight, and an eight-inch line is set to be replaced from Pittsburgh Road to Ames Road in Somerset Township. We ask for your patience during these improvement projects as it is part of the ongoing process to improve and maintain a reliable distribution system for communities.
In addition to these projects, and others, Authority staff are planning the ten-year lead service line replacement project required by an EPA mandate. To comply with the first phase of the federal government’s requirement, The Authority has built a service line inventory identifying the location and type of material of the service lines. We are continuing to build this inventory and are working to determine the customer-owned side of the service line for those that are currently unknown. Customers seeking information on their service line or those who would like to assist the Authority in identifying their side of the service line are urged to contact the Authority offices or go to our website for more information and to complete the Lead Service Line Inventory Survey.
The Authority’s Billing Office looks to improve our relationship with our customers and to continue to improve our operations. We take pride in being one of the few utilities that offers in-person service at our Customer Service Center. As a convenience to our customers, the Authority also accepts credit cards, automatic payment, IVR, and internet bill paying options.
As we look to the future, the Water Authority will continue to seek opportunities to expand the areas where we can provide water service and at the same time provide our competitive low rates for the benefit of all customers present and future.