Pittsburgh, PA - The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) joins elected officials, water utilities, community leaders, educators, and businesses from across the country as part of the ninth annual Imagine a Day Without Water, a nationwide day of education and advocacy about the value of water.
Led by the US Water Alliance’s Value of Water Campaign, PWSA and over a thousand organizations across the country will join Imagine a Day Without Water today, October 19, 2023, to raise awareness about the role that water plays as a resource and the importance of investing in water infrastructure and the people behind these systems.
“Imagine A Day Without Water is a great day to reflect upon the importance of clean and safe drinking water in all of our lives and the systems which are in place to provide it,” remarks PWSA’s Senior Manager of Public Affairs, Rebecca Zito. “We share in an appreciation for the hard work undertaken every day to deliver this precious commodity and together consider how the actions that we take today can reflect our forward-thinking commitment to future generations.”
To commemorate this year’s event, PWSA is partnering with two businesses for which clean and safe water is fundamental, La Prima Coffee located on Smallman Street in the Strip District and Threadbare Cider House in Spring Garden. Patrons to both businesses are encouraged to learn how the day without water is imagined through the lens of each establishment and to consider the difficulty they would have in procuring these products without the people, infrastructure and funding that enables PWSA to provide this foundational resource.
We hope to see you at La Prima Coffee and Threadbare Cider House! Stop by to learn what it takes to produce safe, high quality drinking water and its importance in the products you love.
PWSA currently provides drinking water to approximately 500,000 people in the Pittsburgh area which includes residents and businesses like La Prima and Threadbare. PWSA’s infrastructure has served Pittsburgh well for many decades, but with components that are now over a century old in some places, repairs and updates are needed to benefit generations to come.
With a commitment to serving Pittsburgh’s residents today and for generations to come, PWSA is investing nearly $470 million in large-scale water improvement projects known as the Water Reliability Plan. This investment will result in a resilient and redundant water system that the people of Pittsburgh can continue to rely upon for many years to come.
PWSA is also proactively educating customers about the quality and safety of their drinking water. Most recently sharing with customers, through their monthly bill insert, a new fact sheet – Is My Drinking Water Safe? - provides a snapshot of our water treatment process and explains the rigorous monitoring and testing procedures we follow to ensure your drinking water is of the highest quality. Those on social media can follow along using the hashtag #TrustTheTap on PWSA’s LinkedIn, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter) accounts.
The Imagine a Day Without Water event is a day to take a moment to pause and consider something so essential it might seem nearly forgettable. It's a day to celebrate water service, water infrastructure, and the workforce behind it. Follow the conversation on social media through the hashtag #ValueWater.
