May 10, 2016 -- Playing with trucks is always fun, even more so when tiny Tonkas are replaced with full-sized, working vehicles.

ALCOSAN employees will be participating in the Junior League of Pittsburgh’s ninth annual Touch-a-Truck fundraiser from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 14. They will be displaying a combination vacuum-jetting truck, which is bound to be a hit with the thousands of children and adults who are expected to attend the event at 11th and Smallman streets in the Strip District.

ALCOSAN’s combo truck is used by employees from the Regional Conveyance department to perform regular maintenance on sewers in the system and at ALCOSAN’s 59-acre plant on the Ohio River on Pittsburgh’s North Side. Members of the team will be on hand to explain how the truck works. There’s a debris hopper on the back with a hose that is operated to vacuum out manholes. The jetter, which is on the front of the truck, has 600 feet of high-velocity hose and is equipped with special nozzles, which apply water from four 250-gallon tanks under high pressure to dislodge blockages, grit and debris from sewers.

ALCOSAN is happy to participate in the Junior League’s popular fundraiser, which enables the organization to provide nutritious food for children living in low-income households in the Pittsburgh area.

ALCOSAN is one of the region’s premier environmental and public health organizations, treating wastewater for 83 Allegheny County communities, including the City of Pittsburgh. The authority, which is Green by Mission and Green by Choice, enhances the community’s quality of life and safety by working to protect drinking water, rivers and streams, and making the Pittsburgh region a great place to live, work and play. ALCOSAN’s 59-acre treatment plant processes up to 250 million gallons of wastewater daily and is one of the largest such facilities in the Ohio River Valley.