This story was originally featured on August 17, 2023, by Brandie Jefferson in PittWire
In a joint project with Women for a Healthy Environment, the University’s Pittsburgh Collaboratory for Water Research, Education, and Outreach determined that fragmentation, a lack of transparency and insufficient affordability protections are barriers to equitable access to clean water throughout Allegheny County.
For this project — called Measuring Up — researchers issued report cards to each of the county’s 36 independent water systems based on transparency, affordability protections and drinking water quality. Find all the grades in the report.
“Grades were across the board,” said Megan Guy, the collaboratory’s outreach coordinator and data analyst. Of note, she said, no system earned Best Practice, the highest compliance score, in any transparency or affordability grading criteria. The report concluded that most water systems could improve by providing more information on affordability protections and adding ways for citizens to engage in decision-making.
Many systems are just starting to identify where lead service lines are, and until they are found and replaced, water systems need to offer no-cost testing and interventions, Guy said. So far, only a handful do.
“This report highlights the need to allocate significant resources at the state and federal level to address aging infrastructure and lead service line replacements to ensure clean drinking water,” Guy said.
“There are many water systems beginning to address aging infrastructure," she said. “However, there is still a long way to go.”
— Brandie Jefferson, photography by Alex Mowrey