1. HISTORY OF THE PITTSBURGH PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY
(1802 to present)

2. A Very Brief History of Water Supply
2000 B.C. - Crete
Wooden pipe/stone sewers
300 B.C. – Roman Empire
Aqueducts and lead plumbing
1200 A.D. - United Kingdom
5.5 km lead pipeline delivered water from Tyburne Brook to London
1664 A.D. - France
25 km Iron pipe from Marly-on-Seine to the Palace of Versailles 2

3. A Very Brief History of Water Supply
Bethlehem, PA
Bored logs with lead joints
Philadelphia, PA
Cast iron pipe
1829 – London,England
1st Sand Filter (Chelsea Waterworks)
New York City
Croton Water Supply (upland)
Tunnels and iron pipe
Los Angeles
Owens Valley Aqueduct
Infamous “interbasin transfer” 3

4. PITTSBURGH
1794 – organized as a Borough
1816 – incorporated as a City

5. Sources of Water Back in the Day
River and Pond Water-
frozen in winter – very warm in summer
“When Pittsburghers drink river water –
they stir up the mud from the bottom
of the bucket before they take a drink”

6. Sources of Water Back in the Day
Natural Springs-flowing out of the hills
Springs at foot of Grant’s Hill utilized
from 1780s till 1840
People complained of sulfur smell

7. Sources of Water Back in the Day
Wells
Difficult to rent out a property w/o a well
Difficult to dig wells
Private well owners reluctant to allow
public use

8. Sources of Water Back in the Day
Rain water gathered in cisterns
Undependable supply

9. FIRST CENTURY
(emphasis on water quantity)

10. First Public Water System
1802 – Burgesses authorized construction
of 4 public wells
47 ft deep & lined with stone
Located on Market St & equipped
with hand pumps
Burgesses also authorized compensation for private
well owners who allowed public use of their wells

11. First Public Water System
Cost to Borough
Paid by tax on residents
total cost-$525
Difficult to collect tax

12. Upgrade of Original System
Early debate over upgrades to system
focused on private vs public provision
of water

13. Upgrade of Original System
By 1820-city outgrew original system
Lines of people at public wells
People utilized river for water
Many residents kept tanks in backyard
filled by ‘Water Carters’

14. First Pumped Water System
Citizens petitioned council to build a
pumped system utilizing river water
Petition specified public ownership
Greatest opposition - ‘Water Carters’

15. First Pumped Water System
1828 – First pumped system constructed
Supervisory committee –
Messers. Fairman, Magee,
Denny, Carson, Hayes
PS located at foot of Cecil Alley

16. First Pumped Water System
Pumped to 1 million gal reservoir on
Grant’s Hill
System included: 1 pump, 1 steam
boiler, 1 reservoir,
& 1.5 miles of pipe
Cost - $111,000

17. First Pumped Water System
First 3 yr of operation-
Daily pumpage only 40,000 gal/day
pumping engine operated only 21 hr/wk
Households strictly limited in water use
Frequent pipe breaks due to weak mains

18. PITTSBURGH IN THE YEAR 1840.
A LITHOGRAPH PRINTED IN NUREMBURG, GERMANY BY C. BERG.

19. 1844 Upgrade Cecil Alley Pump Station and Grant Hill
Reservoir abandoned
Larger pump station built at 11th St &
Etna St
7.5 million gallon reservoir built at Prospect St
& Elm St

20. 1844 Upgrade
New pump station contained 2 steam-driven pumps (‘Samson’ & ‘Hercules’)
Combined pump capacity = 9 mgd
Pumped almost continuously for 40 yr
Water bills: $3-$10 per year per household
$20-$40 per year per hotel
$15-$150 per year per factory

21. 1848 Upgrade Required by continued expansion of city to eastern
hill section & Great Fire of 1845
Additional reservoir built at Erin St & Bedford Ave
(2.7 mil gal capacity)
Additional pump station built to feed new reservoir
System delivered water to 6,600 locations thru
21 miles of pipe

22. 1870 Upgrade 1867 – 14 wards annexed to city
(additional 35,000 people)
Additional pumps added to existing stations
Temporary pump station built at 45th &
Allegheny River
(pumped <1mgd and used until 1879)

23. 1879 Upgrade By 1878: population = 106,000 daily pumpage = 15 mgd
1879 – Highland Res. #1 built (125 mil gal)
Brilliant Pump Station constructed
Brilliant Hill Res. built (never used)
Herron Hill Res & Pump Station built
(replaced by larger pump station in 1897)

24. Brilliant Pumping Station (late 1800’s)

25. Carnegie Lake

26. Construction of Herron Hill Reservoir

27. Herron Hill Reservoir

28. 1880’s-1890’s Upgrades 1880’s – Meters installed
Early 1880’s - small tanks & pump
stations built for Garfield &
Lincoln neighborhoods
1903 – Highland #2 Res built (125 mil gal)

29. HAIGHLAND #2 RESERVIOR

30. CONSTRUCTION OF HIGHLAND #2 RESERVIOR

31. HIGHLAND RESERVIOR #2 INFLUENT

32. CONSTRUCTION OF HIGHLAND #2

33. RISING MAIN LEADING TO HIGHLAND #2

34. PIPE LEADING TO HIGHLAND #2 RESERVIOR

35. Consolidation of Pittsburgh, Allegheny, & Monongahela Water Systems
1907 – Pittsburgh & Allegheny Cities combined
1908 – Pittsburgh purchased Monongahela Water Company

36. Northside Water System
1849 – Allegheny constructed pump station on
River Ave & reservoir on Troy Hill
Allegheny built Howard Pump Station (supplied tanks on Spring Hill and
Nunnerey Hill from River Ave PS)
1896 – Allegheny built Montrose PS
(cost = $2 mil, capacity = 36mgd)
(operated until 1914)

37. Southside Water System
Monongahela Water Company served
Southside prior to its annexation to Pgh
1865 – PS built at Mon River at 29th St
Birmingham Res built on 30th St
1875 – Small PS built at Birmingham Res
to service hill section

38. Southside Water System
– 3 Allentown Tanks built
1908 – Pgh purchased Mon Water
Company
By 1930 – Little of Mon Water System still
in service (other than Allentown
tanks and distribution mains)

39. Fire Protection A critical mission for public water supply is
Earliest houses in Pittsburgh were of log construction and built 30 to 60 ft apart
Later houses were frame and built closer
Initial firefighting method – ‘Bucket Brigade’

40. Fire Protection 1794 – Eagle Fire Company formed
(First elected engineer = John Johnson)
City population = 1000
Fire station located on 1st Ave
near Chancery Lane
Utilized hand-operated pumper
called the ‘Eagle’

41. Fire Protection Additional Fire companies organized-
1802 – Allegheny Fire Company
1811 – Vigilant Fire Company
1815 – Neptune Fire Company
1816 – Ordinance requiring leather buckets

42. Fire Protection 1859 – First steam-driven firepumper
(nicknamed the ‘Steam Boat’
by other fire companies)
1870 – Pittsburgh’s first paid fire company
(end of volunteer fire companies)

43. The Steamer of the Pittsburgh Fire Department with the Eagle Company’s horse-drawn engines.

44. Great Fire of 1845 City population – 22,000 April 10, 1845
Noon – Sparks from washerwoman’s
wash pot ignite stable at Ferry St
& 2nd Ave
6pm – Fire was finally burning itself out
Smithfield St Bridge blown up by residents

45. Great Fire of 1845 Losses – 2 deaths 12,000 people homeless
approx 1/3 of city destroyed (56 acres)
982 buildings destroyed
$6 to $8 million damage
Contributing factor – Lack of water
“When the firefighters attached their hoses, they
found only a weak sickly stream of muddy water”

46. Great Fire of 1845
“In all this vast space, the very heart of the city,
including most of the warehouses of our manu-
facturers, and our principal wholesale grocers
and commission merchants, there is not one
house standing that we know of”
Gazette – April 11, 1845

47. BEFORE THE FIRE. A PAINTING MADE IN THE EARLY MONTHS OF 1845 BY GEORGE BREED.

48. THE BURNING OF PITTSBURGH as painted by William Coventry Wall two days after the devastation.

49. THE BURNT OUT CITY
A Contemporary painting by William C. Wall

50. First 50 yr of Public Water Supply
Construction of the water system was the largest expenditure made by city
(40% of all municipal spending)
Water services not evenly distributed
(working class neighborhoods
served less than affluent areas)
(1872 Water Commission ruling
relating pipe size to potential revenue)

51. SECOND CENTURY
(emphasis on water quality)

52. Need for Water Treatment
Throughout 19th century – no treatment
1855 – John Snow demonstrated
relationship between drinking
water quality and cholera
Disease in Pittsburgh indicated need
for water treatment

53. Cholera Like London – Pittsburgh experienced cholera outbreaks
(1832,1833,1834,1849,1850,1854,1855)
1832 – outbreak appeared first in other cities
Religious leaders urged “a day for fasting,
humiliation, and prayer, that God would avert
the danger threatening the country from
Asiatic cholera”

54. Cholera 1833 – Outbreak returned with even greater virulence
Newspapers suppressed info
on epidemic
100 cases treated & 75 deaths

55. Cholera 1849 – Southside was hardest hit Birmingham almost depopulated
by residents fleeing to countryside
Outbreak almost halted river travel
Coal fire or pitch pot on every street

56. CHOLERA EPIDEMICS
“Cholera Epidemics kept Pittsburgh in fear. Coal fires and pitch pots were lit in the streets, expecting that the flames would kill the cause of the disease. Hundreds perished in 1832, 1833, 1834, 1849, 1850, 1854 and 1855.” As stated in the book PITTSBURGH the Story of an American City, by Stefan Lorant.

57. Cholera 1854 – worst outbreak of all 400 deaths in two weeks
Howard Association formed to deal
with epidemic
Recently opened Mercy Hospital
treated victims

58. Typhoid Fever
Typhoid indicated the need for water treatment in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh 1907: city population – 535,330
typhoid cases – 5,652
typhoid deaths – 648
typhoid = 7% of all city deaths
Typhoid death rate for Pittsburgh -
(121 deaths/100,000 population)
Typhoid death rate for 56 US cities -
(31 deaths/100,000 population)

59. Typhoid Deaths per 100,000

60. Typhoid Fever Residents urged to boil water
Bottled water usage among highest in US
Immigrants ignored boil water advisory
“You cannot make the foreigner believe
that Pittsburgh water is unwholesome”

61. Typhoid Fever By 1900 – More than 350,000 inhabitants
in 75 communities upstream of
Pittsburgh were discharging
untreated sanitary and industrial
wastes into Allegheny River

62. Drinking Water Treatment
Typhoid statistics and obvious contamination of river water prompted
calls for water treatment

63. Drinking Water Treatment
Three Options -
1) Accept status quo
2) Obtain water from uncontaminated upstream source
3) Filtration

64. Drinking Water Treatment
1847–Water filtration first suggested
1894–Joint Commission of Chamber of
Commerce, Allegheny Medical Society,
Engineers’ Society of Western PA, and
Iron City Microscopical Society,
recommended filtration & constructed pilot
filter
“Pittsburgh and Allegheny City water
supplies are not only not up to standard
but are pernicious”

65. Drinking Water Treatment
1896 – Council appointed Filtration Comm.
(published report recommending
slow sand filtration)
1899 & 1904–voters approve bond issues
1904 – construction of filter plant begins

66. Slow Sand Filtration Plant
Original plant consisted of –
Ross Pump Station
Sedimentation basins
46 then 56 Slow sand filters
Clearwell

67. ALLEGHENY RIVER INTAKE

68. Ross Pumping Station (early 1900’s)

69. Ross original steam pumps

70. Ross original steam pumps

71. Filtration Plant Sedimentation Basins (Early 1900’s)

72. Construction of Slow Sand Filters (Circa 1905)

73. Construction of Slow Sand Filters (Circa 1905)

74. Completed Slow Sand Filters

75. Maintenance of Slow Sand Filters

76. Isometric view from Highland Park of three pumping stations and filtration plant of the City Water Supply.

77. In 1923, the treatment plant had the distinction of being the largest sand filtration plant in the world.

78. Heinz Sauerkraut Factory

79. Heinz Cabbage Field

80. Additional Improvements
1911 – chlorine disinfection initiated
1912 – Southside served by Highland Res. #2
Mission Pump Station built
(South 29th St PS abandoned)
1914 – Cabbage Hill Res & Aspinwall Pump Station built
(Montrose PS, Troy Hill PS,& Troy Hill Res abandoned)
1920s – McNaugher & Brashear Reservoirs built
(Montgomery, Lafeyette, & Greentree Tanks abandoned)

81. Effects on Public Health
1907 – 3800 typhoid cases & 373 deaths
1915 – 146 typhoid cases & 21 deaths

82. Typhoid Deaths per 100,000

83. St Patrick’s Day Flood - 1936
Worst flood in Pittsburgh history
By March 1 – 53 in. of snow vs 28 in.
March 16/17 – 450F & 2 in. rain
March 18 – Rivers crested at 46 ft.
(normal pool = 16 ft.)
15 feet of river water on Golden Triangle streets

84. St Patrick’s Day Flood - 1936
Deaths – 153 throughout Ohio Valley
69 in Pittsburgh region
45 in City of Pittsburgh
$250 million damage
No electricity for 1 week
Numerous fires
Widespread loss of gas, telephone, & transportatio

85. St Patrick’s Day Flood - 1936
March 18 – Flood waters inundated Ross,
Aspinwall, & Brilliant Pump Stations
March 20 – stored drinking water began
to run out
Higher altitude neighborhoods lost
water pressure & supply

86. St Patrick’s Day Flood - 1936
March 20 – Brilliant Pump Station resumed operation
March 21 – Ross Pump resumed operation
March 23 – Aspinwall Pump Station resumed operation
Much of distribution system never lost
water service due to extensive storage capacity
Backup water provided to 30 hospitals

87. St Patrick’s Day Flood - 1936
Mitigation steps following flood-
Series of 9 flood control dams &
reservoirs constructed on Allegheny
Pump controls elevated
Future plant additions built above
flood plane

88. More Recent Improvements
1950’s – Chemical treatment initiated
1962 – Clarifier constructed
1969 – Rapid sand filter plant built
1990’s – Reservoirs covered
2002 – Membrane filtration plant built

89. Highland Reservoir #2

90. Membrane Filtration Plant

91. Highland Reservoir #1

92. (emphasis on water quality, sustainability,
THIRD CENTURY
(emphasis on water quality, sustainability,
& green technology)

93. 1984 – PWSA formed
purpose = oversee $200 million capital
improvement program
1995 – Pgh Water Dept became part of PWSA
purpose = manage day to day
operations & maintain
extensive infrastructure

94. Regionalization Major goal – sell water regionally
Current customers: Fox Chapel
Blawnox
Reserve Township
Aspinwall
Millvale
Hampton Township (partial)

95. Major Challenges Increasingly stringent water quality regulations
Maintain aging infrastructure
Source water protection
Energy optimization
(e.g., hydroelectric energy generation)

96. Pittsburgh Water Treatment Plant