The Beaver Falls Municipal Authority, established with an ordinance enacted by the City Council of Beaver Falls, was incorporated on July 3, 1940, and on September 1st of that year purchased the assets of the Beaver Valley Water Company for $4.3 million. The latter, formed in 1902, combined some seven water companies serving the city of Beaver Falls on the north to the Borough of Conway on the south.
When the Authority took over the system in 1940, it included 135 miles of water mains, served 10,606 customers and had an average daily water production of 3.8 million gallons. By the end of 2011, these figures had increased to approximately 280 miles of water mains, over 18,000 live service connections, an average daily water production of 7 million gallons, and a peak water production of 8.5 million gallons. For the year ended 2011, the average annual water bill rendered per domestic customer was $325.90.
The Authority now serves 23 municipalities, including the City of Beaver Falls, the Boroughs of Big Beaver, Conway, Eastvale, East Rochester, Fallston, Freedom, Homewood, New Brighton, Patterson Heights, Rochester, Bridgewater, West Mayfield, and Zelienople and the Townships of Chippewa, Daugherty, New Sewickley, North Sewickley, Patterson, Pulaski, Rochester, South Beaver, and White. The Authority also maintains an emergency interconnection with the borough of Beaver Municipal Authority.
The system serves approximately 60 square miles or over 10 percent of the land area of Beaver County, and approximately 50,000 people, or nearly 25-30 percent of the County's population.
Besides adding some 200 miles of water mains and more than 7,000 new customers since 1940, the Authority has made many improvements and additions to the system.
The water treatment plant in Eastvale was improved and enlarged in 1958, increasing its daily capacity from 6 to 10 million gallons. In 1969, the new I. S. Sahli water treatment plant in New Brighton was dedicated and this plant added another 6 million gallons per day of treatment capacity to the Authority's system. Both water treatment facilities are conventional rapid sand/mixed media filtration plants, including chemical treatment, rapid mixing, flocculation/coagulation, primary/secondary settling, filtration, and disinfection, withdrawing their raw water supply from the Beaver River. In 1987, the Authority placed into operation its Townsend Dam Hydroelectric Plant in New Brighton. Under normal water-year conditions, this plant provides the Authority approximately $1 million in revenue. In 1992, the Authority reconstructed its Eastvale water supply dam on the Beaver River to assure a constant head of river water to serve the plant. In 2001, the Authority brought on-line new sludge handling facilities for its Eastvale plant to comply with state regulatory requirements for the water plant. In 2005, the Authority brought on-line a new clearwell at its Eastvale plant to also comply with state regulatory requirements.
Office Hours of Operation: M-F 8am-4pm