St. Clairsville Area Water Company Community Engineering Corps Project
Pennsylvania AWWA Section
By Gene Koontz, PA-AWWA Contributor
The St. Clairsville Area Water Company (SCAWC) is a small water system which supplies an average daily demand of 25,000 gallons per day (gpd). to about 400 residents, is owned by its customers and is located in Bedford County in south-central Pennsylvania. The current St. Clairsville sources of supply and treatment plant were constructed on donated private property, are managed and operated by volunteers with supplemental twice monthly visits from a certified operator.
In recent years, the water system components have begun to age, and repairs or replacement are needed. Even though the operators pride themselves with maintaining good water quality, the community volunteers have struggled with maintaining compliance with the many and varied regulatory requirements of a community water system. In the last few years SCAWC has received numerous notices of violations and citations from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP).
The CECorps project team is a group of volunteers recruited from AWWA, PA-AWWA, the University of Pennsylvania student chapter and RCAP.
The team conducted a feasibility study which looked at several future water supply options including installing a new treatment system (three alternatives examined) for the existing spring sources; drilling new groundwater wells; and inter-connection with a nearby water system. Organizational and management options examined included keeping local ownership and outsourcing operations; merger with another municipal system; and sale to a municipal authority or private company.
The project goals for SCAWC are to address current PA DEP violations, stay in full compliance with all drinking water regulations, continue to provide sufficient quantity of high-quality water to its customers and find a long-term solution to organizational and management needs.