December 22, 2014 – While Santa is busy delivering gifts, and families gather together this holiday, Santa’s elves working for the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (ALCOSAN) will be spending time away from their families to deliver something even more valuable – safe rivers and streams and dependable wastewater management.

Although most customers don’t realize it, working on holidays is part of the job for wastewater professionals because treating wastewater goes on 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Treatment plant staff often spend the day alone, monitoring operations, while maintenance crews are on-call to respond to problems with trunk sewers.

Employees of ALCOSAN are proud to serve their neighbors and recognize that sacrificing time away from their families comes with the territory.

“No one wants to wake up Christmas morning not knowing if our regional sewage treatment system is working,” said Jeanne K. Clark, ALCOSAN Public Information Officer. “But that won’t happen – thanks to ALCOSAN’s workers, who are on the frontlines, protecting the Pittsburgh region’s public health, environment, and economy. And that makes working on the holidays worthwhile.”

ALCOSAN employees operate treatment facilities, maintain distribution and collection systems, and perform dozens of other critical functions that directly contribute to quality of life in the 83 Allegheny County communities the agency serves. Each day, ALCOSAN treats up to 250 million gallons of dirty and hazardous wastewater, returning the clean water to the Ohio River.

“It takes training and dedication to perform the jobs the men and women of ALCOSAN take so seriously,” said Clark. “We could not be prouder of the service we provide, and we hope that everyone in the region values our employees’ willingness to spend their holiday protecting public health.”