HISTORY OF ESWA
Relationship to the City of Easton
Easton Suburban Water Authority is a non-profit government entity created by the City of
Easton, and regulated by the Pennsylvania Municipality Authorities Act. Easton Suburban Water Authority
was incorporated in 1957 to provide water service to the growing suburbs of the Greater Easton Area.
The nine members of the Authority’s Board of Directors are appointed by the City of Easton and serve a
staggered term of five years each. At the onset of the Authority, the Board consisted of seven directors.
In order to comply with amendments to the Municipality Authorities Act, the number was increased to nine
to meet the requirement that the majority of Board members must reside in the City of Easton. At the
present time, five of the nine Board members live within the City limits. The remaining four reside in
the surrounding municipalities.
At the time of the Authority’s inception, the City maintained control of the water system, including
the Water Treatment Plant, within City limits. For its customers, the Authority currently purchases about
70 percent of the plant’s treated water. Thus, both City customers and Authority customers receive
water from the same water treatment plant.
In 2003, after an unsatisfactory report of the Water Treatment Plant’s Filter Performance Evaluation,
the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection notified the City that it was necessary for the
plant to be brought into compliance. In fact, in order to maintain system reliability, PADEP mandated that
certain upgrades be made immediately. At the time, the City was in a period of political transition, so
the Authority prepared and presented to the PADEP an Action Plan to address the Water Treatment Plant’s
deficiencies. A Water Construction Fund, established in the early 1990s with monies left over from the
1980 plant upgrade (27% City funds, 73% Authority funds), provided the capital to correct the compliance
and maintenance issues.
Over the past five years, the Authority has assumed responsibility of financing and replacing aged
facilities needed to serve both City and Authority customers. The North High Tank and North High Pumping
Station were completed in 2001 at a cost of $2,500,000, and the Authority is currently replacing the
15th Street Tank and Pumping Station at a cost of $7,000,000. Upon completion of such projects, the
Authority assumes the operational and maintenance responsibilities of these facilities.
As per DEP mandates and Federal EPA Safe Drinking Water Act requirements, Easton Suburban Water Authority and the City of Easton continued to work on and commission designs for improvements to the Water Treatment Plant. Under the previous arrangement, the City was responsible for 30 percent of the costs, while the Authority was responsible for 70 percent. Under the new Lease Agreement, the Authority assumes full financial responsibility for capital improvements being made to the Water Treatment Plant and related water system facilities.
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