Mar 28, 2014 2 min read

Pennsylvania American Water will spend $5.5 million to construct an emergency Monongahela River water intake pipeline and make other improvements to its water treatment plant in Elrama.

The 42-inch pipeline will run parallel to the existing raw water main feed to the E.H. Aldrich Treatment Plant, and it will be used in the event something interferes with the operation of the main feed, company spokeswoman Jospehine Posti said.

“There are good examples around the country when you need that backup line,” Posti said Friday.

She said the company has had issues with the intake at its Hays water treatment plant in Pittsburgh involving problems with the pipe or valves.

“We need to make sure we have an alternate pipe,” Posti said.

Raw water in Elrama is pumped to the plant, where it is treated and filtered. A new filter-to-waste system will be added there to automate part of the filtering process.

The company is also building a new 100-foot diameter water treatment residual clarifier tank and updating the existing water treatment residual clarifier to prevent freezing during winter months. The clarifiers are used to settle out sediment prior to the filtration process.

“Pennsylvania American Water prudently invests in improvements at our water treatment plants based on best practices in the industry,” said Jasun Stanton, Pennsylvania American Water’s manager of production. “Building a redundant main that feeds our plant, automating the filter-to-waste process and improving our clarifier system help to ensure that our Washington County customers continue to receive drinking water that meets or exceeds regulatory standards.”

The construction of the raw water main and filter-to-waste system are under way while construction of the clarifiers is expected to begin later this year. Weather permitting, the company expects to complete the projects by the end of 2014.