A SMALL BEGINNING

Until 1887, residents of Verona (including its second ward, which was to become the Borough of Oakmont in 1889) relied on wells and springs for water. In February of 1887, some of the town's residents held a meeting and decided to form a privately-owned company, to be called "The Suburban Water Company of Allegheny County", which would furnish water to its subscribers. For its water supply, the company purchased a lot at the corner of Tenth Street and what is now known as Delaware Avenue, where there were a concentration of springs. A well was dug there, a waterline was laid, and by the end of 1887, water was being pumped to its subscribers.

The demand for water from the new company grew rapidly, with the result that in 1893 and 1894 - despite a national depression - the company built a new pumping plant beside the Allegheny River at Hulton, at the northern end of Oakmont. At the same time that the Hulton Plant was built, a reservoir for the system was constructed on a hilltop just east of Verona, to be supplied with water from the Hulton Plant. Possibly the Hulton Plant's location at the extreme upper end of Oakmont was chosen so that the water supply would come from the river up-stream from sewage that was discharged into the river at several places in town. Another advantage of the location was that the plant was about 40 feet above the normal level of the river, thus minimizing the risk of flood damage. Even in the worst flood in recorded history of the Allegheny River, the Saint Patrick's Day flood of 1936, the plant remained in service - despite some flooding - and kept furnishing people with water when other water plants in the region that were located along the river banks were flooded and had to shut down.

By 1896, the company had 350 customers in Oakmont and Verona, with 10 miles of water main. Following the 1893-94 expansion, the area served by the Suburban Water Company was gradually extended beyond Oakmont and Verona to neighboring municipalities. In 1897 the company contracted with the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad to run a water line to Unity to serve North Bessemer, Unity, and Milltown. Three years later, the Unity Water Company was formed, and in 1901, the Suburban Water Company bought it. Also that same year the company purchased the Moore Water Company, which had been incorporated in 1900 to furnish water to part of Plum Township.

In 1904 a water line was laid to the recently formed Oakmont Country Club and in 1913 construction began of a reservoir at North Bessemer. For the next decade expansion basically remained dormant, but in 1923 a water line was laid along Verona Road to the growing Rosedale area. In 1929 service from that line was extended to Crescent Hills, a real estate development, in what was then Penn Township.

In 1913 Suburban added settling basins and filters at its Hulton pumping station to improve the purity of the water from the river. Prior to that time the water had not been treated, except for filtration to remove solids at the water inlet in the river. In 1934 and 1935 water treatment equipment was installed at the Hulton plant.

NEW OWNERSHIP

An important event in the history of the Suburban Water Company took place on May 29, 1929 when the company - which until that time had been locally owned - was bought by American Utilities Service Company, of Chicago. The later was a large company which owned a number of water companies in various parts of the country. Under the new ownership the Water Company's business expanded to Harmar, Indiana, and West Deer Townships. That expansion began when in the early 30's Gulf Oil Corporation's subsidiary, Gulf Research and Development Corp., established a large laboratory complex in Harmar Township, across the Allegheny River from the northern end of Oakmont. For its water supply, it turned to the Suburban Water Company, with the result that in 1935 a water line from the Hulton Water Plant was installed under the Allegheny River and across Twelve Mile Island to Gulf's laboratory. Allegheny Valley Water Company was incorporated in March, 1936 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Suburban, to provide Gulf and other customers in Harmar Township with water purchased from Suburban.

In 1936 the Saint Patrick's Day flood on the Allegheny River damaged the Republic Steel Corporation's water pumping at Harmarville from which the town of Indianola received its water supply, whereupon under an agreement with the steel company a water line was installed connecting the line which served the Gulf Laboratories to the line behind Republic's pumping station in Indianola. The Indianola Water Company was formed as a subsidiary of the Suburban to conduct the service to Indianola. Incidentally, on a wall of the Hulton pumping station is a line showing the height which the 1936 flood water reached.

In 1942 Republic asked that the line to Indianola be extended to Russellton, in West Deer Township. Accordingly, another Suburban subsidiary, the West Deer Water Company, was formed to handle that service. That same year Suburban acquired Republic's Water facilities at Harmarville and Indianola. In 1944 the service was extended to Rural Ridge and Dorseyville.

In 1943 it was decided that in order to simplify paperwork the Suburban Water Company of Allegheny County and all its wholly- owned subsidiaries should be merged into one company, called the Suburban Water Company.

In 1935 Pennsylvania enacted legislation which authorized Municipalities to form organizations called "Authorities", chartered by the State to conduct business activities of a public nature.

In 1943, Oakmont's Borough Council formed The Municipal Authority of the Borough of Oakmont, which was chartered by Pennsylvania on May 4, 1943, for the purpose of negotiating for the purchase of The Suburban Water Company from American Utilities Service Company. Those negotiations were unsuccessful, and the matter languished. In 1945 the negotiations were reopened and eventually were successful. By September 1946 the Authority had purchased all of the water company's stock, and all of the water company's assets had been transferred to the Authority. The Suburban Water Company of Allegheny County was dissolved.

Since 1946, the system's 83 miles of water lines have gradually grown to approximately 250 miles at present, ranging in size from 2" through 24". The Authority serves a population of close to 40,000, through 16,200 connections. The service area encompasses approximately 45 square miles. The system is comprised of one treatment plant, which averages pumpage of 5.4 million gallons a day, 12 standpipes, one elevated tank, 2 covered reservoirs, and 11 pump stations. See the map of our service area.