3 Rivers Wet Weather is a nonprofit environmental organization created in 1998 to support 82 Allegheny County municipalities and the City of Pittsburgh in addressing the region’s wet weather overflow problem. Founded jointly by the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) and the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (ALCOSAN), 3 Rivers Wet Weather has historically been funded by federal, state and local resources, including local foundations, and is currently under a service agreement with ALCOSAN.
During nearly every rainfall or snow melt, excess water gets into municipal sewer systems, which results in untreated sewage and storm water affecting our streams and rivers. These overflows not only violate the Environmental Protection Agency’s federal Clean Water Act, but they cause a multitude of health and environmental concerns, including basement backups and contamination of our primary source of drinking water. In addition, these overflows can result in limits on new sewer tap-ins, which inhibit the region’s economic development.
Since our founding, 3RWW has earned municipal trust by building relationships with municipal officials, regulatory agencies, legislators and other regional leaders. We have worked closely with key municipal and regulatory parties to facilitate the development of a viable, consistent consent order signed by the ALCOSAN service communities in early 2004. To help the communities comply with the consent order’s assessment and evaluation activities, 3RWW continues to provide high quality tools and technical assistance to municipal managers and engineers through regular meetings and its online resources, such as the Municipal Data Support Site and RainWays, our interactive green solutions tool.
Each year, we hold a regional sewer conference to help educate more than 400 engineers, managers, industry professionals and municipal officials on the wet weather issue. 3RWW also provides support to municipalities by coordinating centralized, regional compliance activities, which can ease communities' financial burden.
With the cooperation and involvement of communities throughout the ALCOSAN service area, 3 Rivers Wet Weather is committed to laying the foundation for sewer system consolidation—the key to long-term system sustainability and improved water quality for generations to come.
3 Rivers Wet Weather, a nonprofit organization, is committed to improving the quality of Allegheny County's water resources by helping communities address the issue of untreated sewage and stormwater affecting the region's waterways. To promote the most cost-effective, long-term, sustainable solutions, 3RWW develops technical guidance and resources to assist municipalities with regulatory compliance, convenes forums to encourage a consensus-based approach for feasible and affordable wet weather planning, educates the public and advocates inter-municipal partnerships which will lead to consolidation of the fragmented municipal sewer collection system.