The Pleasant Hills Authority Treatment Plant uses the activated sludge process to treat the sewage and generate water that can be safely returned to the environment. In the activated sludge process, naturally occurring micro-organisms ("bugs") feed on the sewage and breakdown the organic matter and nutrients in the sewage so they can be separated from the water. The process requires different kinds of bugs to treat the different elements in the sewage. The challenge in the process is to create the conditions for all of the bugs to fully treat the sewage and to balance the amount and type of bugs in the system with the sewage flow. The process takes about 12 – 18 hours from the time the sewage first enters the plant until the treated water is returned to the environment.

The equipment used to process the sewage at the treatment plant includes:

• 2 mechanical bar screens
• 2 grit removal chambers
• 4 primary clarification tanks
• 4 First Stage aeration tanks
• 3 First Stage final clarification tanks
• 4 Second Stage aeration tanks
• 2 Second Stage final clarification tanks
• 2 UV Disinfection systems
• 2 Digesters
• 1 Screw Press
• 1 Belt Filter Thickener
• Many pumps to move sewage and sludge between the equipment

The Authority is proud of its commitment to the environment by consistently treating the sewage to return safe water to the environment.

The service area of the Pleasant Hills Authority includes the Borough of Pleasant Hills and parts of the following municipalities: Baldwin Borough, Whitehall Borough, South Park Township, Bethel Park Municipality, Jefferson Hills Borough and West Mifflin Borough.

Master Billing Meter Project

Pleasant Hills Authority will be installing twelve (12) Master Meters within its service area for the purpose of measuring actual sanitary sewage flows.  This information will be used for billing purposes to the Boroughs of Pleasant Hills, Baldwin and Whitehall and the Township of South Park.  These Master Meters will not be used for direct billing to residential or commercial properties, which will continue to be based on water consumption at a rate set by the individual municipality.  Bids were received for the project on October 25, 2022 and the Authority issued Bonds on December 7, 2022 in the amount of $3.71 million to pay for the project.  On December 14, 2022, Contract One - General was awarded to W.A. Petrakis in the amount of $2,274,600 and Contract Two - Electrical was awarded to Right Electric in the amount of $315,000.  The Notice to Proceed was issued to the contractors on March 1, 2023.  Construction began in January 2024.  Construction was delayed waiting on the meters.

Main Equipment Building Renovations

This project includes replacing the roof, windows and exterior doors on the Main Equipment Building at the WWTP.  The advertisement for bids was published on Sunday, April 2, 2023 in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and bids are due on Tuesday, April 25, 2023 at 2:00 p.m.  Two bids were received with Tennis Roofing as the apparent low bidder with a bid amount of $448,879.00.  The Notice to Proceed was issued to the contractor on June 7, 2023.  This project is substantially complete with remaining punch list items to be addressed.

The Pleasant Hills Authority (PHA) does not set the residential and commercial rates paid by the users. PHA charges a sewage service fee to the individual municipalities, which is based on the water consumption of users in the municipality**. The municipalities then set the sewage rate for the users in their municipality. In addition to the service fee paid to PHA, the municipal sewage rate may incorporate the following charges:

• Service fees paid to other sewage treatment providers (if only part of the municipalities sewage is treated by PHA)
• Costs for maintenance of the municipal sewage collection sewer system
• Costs for capital improvement to the municipal sewage collection sewer system

For information about an individual sewer rate, please contact the individual municipality.

**Note: Under the Consent Order and Agreement signed by the Pleasant Hills Authority, the service fee must move to a sewage flow-based fee from the current water consumption based fee.  After completion of the Master Billing Meter Project, the Authority will move to the sewage flow-based rate structure.