Page 10 - 2020 Chester County Chamber Guide & Mebership Directory

SPOTLIGHT: PENNSYLVANIA AMERICAN WATER
Community Partner
Pumping philanthropy, good feelings, along with safe, clean water
Pennsylvania American Water is a big company with a small focus. Or many small focuses — more than 400 across Pennsylvania. That is one for each of the communities where it provides water and sewer services.
“We serve nearly 20 percent of Pennsylvania, but we also are hyperlocal in our focus. We provide an essential service that people use every day of their lives, and we’re proud to keep life flowing for our customers,” said Maggie Sheely, External Affairs Manager for Pennsylvania American Water.
In Chester County, the company’s Coatesville system provides water and sewer services to about 20,000 customers. This system also provides services to Lancaster County residents. The private water firm, serving 2.4 million customers in the state, bought the Coatesville system in the early 2000s.
“We’re very invested in Coatesville,” Sheely said. When Pennsylvania American Water acquires a municipal water system, it tries to keep the local employees, local expertise and local feel to the water system. “Especially in Coatesville, everybody knows who the ‘water people’ are. Customers know that when they call for service that requires a trip to their home or investigating something on their street, they will be helped by one of the system’s 29 employees.
“Even though customers don’t have a choice when it comes to their water provider, we pride ourselves on customer service. We want to make sure that our customers are happy,” added Sheely.
To deliver clean, safe drinking-water service and reliable, environmentally responsible wastewater service, the company focuses on safety, customer service and preemptive capital improvements before aging infrastructure fails. Over the last three years, Pennsylvania American Water has invested more than $23 million to upgrade Coatesville’s water and wastewater treatment and
pipeline systems, including replacing nearly 49,000 feet of aging pipe.
The company made a special investment in Chester County
this spring during the coronavirus outbreak, donating $5,000 to Coatesville School District’s Student Meal Program and the Chester County Food Bank as part of $25,000 in COVID-19 relief grants to southeastern Pennsylvania. While Pennsylvania American Water does not serve the city of Chester, it made the contribution to be a good neighbor because of the financial stress facing the city. Another $10,000 went to two Delaware County nonprofits that also aid residents and businesses in Chester.
Pennsylvania American Water prides itself on continuous water testing to ensure “what comes out of your tap is safe and meets
or surpasses drinking water standards,” Sheely said. Statewide, the company performs hundreds of thousands of tests annually for at least 100 regulated contaminants and maintains its own high-quality water laboratories.
8 Chester County Chamber of Business & Industry 8 Chester County Chamber of Business & Industry