Pittsburgh Water Crisis
The Pittsburgh water crisis arose from a substantial increase in the lead concentration of the city's water supply. Although catalyzed by the hiring of cost-cutting water consultancy Veolia in 2012, and an unauthorized change of anti-erosion chemicals in 2014, this spike in lead concentration has roots in decades of lead pipe erosion. Since the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) first failed its water quality test in 2016, it has exceeded the federal lead threshold of 15 ppb by almost 1.5 times. This level of lead contamination poses serious health risks to residents, particularly children and pregnant women. In an attempt to remedy the situation, the PWSA has begun removing lead pipes from the city's water lines and has decided to introduce orthophosphate to the water supply. Lead contamination While the Pittsburgh water supply has suffered from a variety of contaminants, the most persistent contaminant has been lead from the aging lead piping infrastructure throughout ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Downtown Pittsburgh From Duquesne Incline In The Morning
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district (CBD). Downtowns typically contain a small percentage of a city’s employment. In some metropolitan areas it is marked by a cluster of tall buildings, cultural institutions and the convergence of rail transit and bus lines. In British English, the term "city centre" is most often used instead. History Origins The Oxford English Dictionary's first citation for "down town" or "downtown" dates to 1770, in reference to the center of Boston. Some have posited that the term "downtown" was coined in New York City, where it was in use by the 1830s to refer to the original town at the southern tip of the island of Manhattan.Fogelson, p. 10. As the town of New York grew into a city, the only direction it could grow on the island was toward the nor ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Health In Pennsylvania
Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, Mental health, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organization''– ''Basic Documents'', Forty-fifth edition, Supplement, October 2006. A variety of definitions have been used for different purposes over time. Health can be promoted by encouraging healthful activities, such as regular physical exercise and adequate sleep, and by reducing or avoiding unhealthful activities or situations, such as smoking or excessive Stress (biology), stress. Some factors affecting health are due to Agency (sociology), individual choices, such as whether to engage in a high-risk behavior, while others are due to Social structure, structural causes, such as whether the society is arranged in a way that makes it easier or harder for people to get necessary healthcare services. Still, other factors are be ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lead Poisoning Incidents
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, lead is a shiny gray with a hint of blue. It tarnishes to a dull gray color when exposed to air. Lead has the highest atomic number of any stable element and three of its isotopes are endpoints of major nuclear decay chains of heavier elements. Lead is toxic, even in small amounts, especially to children. Lead is a relatively unreactive post-transition metal. Its weak metallic character is illustrated by its amphoteric nature; lead and lead oxides react with acids and bases, and it tends to form covalent bonds. Compounds of lead are usually found in the +2 oxidation state rather than the +4 state common with lighter members of the carbon group. Exceptions are mostly limited to organolead compounds. Like the lighter members of the group, le ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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History Of Pittsburgh
The history of Pittsburgh began with centuries of Native American civilization in the modern Pittsburgh region, known as "Dionde:gâ'" in the Seneca language. Eventually, European explorers encountered the strategic confluence where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet to form the Ohio, which leads to the Mississippi River. The area became a battleground when France and Great Britain fought for control in the 1750s. When the British were victorious, the French ceded control of territories east of the Mississippi. Following American independence in 1783, the village around Fort Pitt continued to grow. The region saw the short-lived Whiskey Rebellion, when farmers rebelled against federal taxes on whiskey. The War of 1812 cut off the supply of British goods, stimulating American manufacture. By 1815, Pittsburgh was producing large quantities of iron, brass, tin, and glass products. By the 1840s, Pittsburgh had grown to be one of the largest cities west of the Allegheny Mo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Orthophosphate
A phosphoric acid, in the general sense, is a phosphorus oxoacid in which each phosphorus (P) atom is in the oxidation state +5, and is bonded to four oxygen (O) atoms, one of them through a double bond, arranged as the corners of a tetrahedron. Two or more of these tetrahedra may be connected by shared single-bonded oxygens, forming linear or branched chains, cycles, or more complex structures. The single-bonded oxygen atoms that are not shared are completed with acidic hydrogen atoms. The general formula of a phosphoric acid is , where ''n'' is the number of phosphorus atoms and ''x'' is the number of fundamental cycles in the molecule's structure, between 0 and (''n''+2)/2. Removal of protons () from ''k'' hydroxyl groups –OH leaves anions generically called phosphates (if ''k'' = ''n''−2''x''+2) or hydrogen phosphates (if ''k'' is between 1 and ''n''−2''x''+1), with general formula ''n''−2''x''+2−''k''P''n''O3''n''+1−''x''sup>''k''−. The fully dissociated ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lead Service Line
A lead service line (LSL, also known as lead service pipe, and lead connection pipe) is a pipe made of lead which is used in potable water distribution to connect a water main to a user's premises. Lead exposure is a public health hazard as it causes developmental effects in fetuses, infants, and young children. It also has other health effects in adults. According to World Health Organization, the presence of lead service lines is the most significant contributor of lead contamination in drinking water in many countries. The most certain way to eliminate lead exposure in drinking water from the lead service lines is to replace them with pipes made from other materials. However, the replacements are time-consuming and costly. The difficulty is exacerbated in many locations by ownership structure that has a shared responsibility between water utilities and property owners, which requires cooperation between the two entities. Some water utilities employed corrosion control as a shor ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chelsa Wagner
Chelsa L. Wagner (born July 24, 1977) is an American politician currently serving as a Judge in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. She previously served as the Allegheny County Controller. She resigned her position at the beginning of 2022, prior to being sworn in as judge. She also served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 22nd District which, at the time, included the South Side and part of the North Side of the city of Pittsburgh, and parts of the suburbs of Baldwin, Whitehall and Castle Shannon. She resigned from the House in late 2011 after being elected controller, which she served almost 3 terms, until she was elected Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge in Nov 2021, and assumed the position on Jan 3, 2022. Early life and education Born in Pittsburgh, Wagner is a member of a prominent political family in Pittsburgh. Her father Pete was Democratic Chairman of the city's 19th Ward for 30 years, and her uncle Jack Wagner se ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six regions statewide, a research center in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and a study-abroad site in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland. Through its Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets, Corps of Cadets Reserve Officers' Training Corps, ROTC program, Virginia Tech is a United States Senior Military College, senior military college. Virginia Tech offers 280 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to some 34,400 students; as of 2015, it was the state's second-largest public university by enrollment. It manages a research portfolio of $522 million, placing it among the top 50 universities in the U.S. for total research expenditures, top 25 in computer and information sciences and top 10 in engineering, with the latter t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pittsburgh Water And Sewer Authority
The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) is a municipal authority in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is responsible for water treatment and delivery systems in the city of Pittsburgh, as well as the city's sewer system. In a 2010 report, the authority reported 80,557 drinking water service connections and 107,151 sewage connections. The authority claims to serve approximately 83,000 customers. It is estimated that there are 930 miles of water lines and 7,300 Fire Hydrants served by PWSA. History The PWSA was created in 1984 to oversee a $200 million capital improvement program focused on Pittsburgh's water treatment and distribution system. This capital improvement program was primarily designed to ensure that the water system would meet various new requirements mandated by federal and state laws pertaining to safe drinking water. The largest project undertaken in the initial years of the PWSA was to cover all open water reservoirs, replace them with closed tanks, or else ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bill Schuette
William Duncan Schuette ( ; born October 13, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd attorney general of Michigan from 2011 to 2019. He was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Senate in 1990 and for Governor of Michigan in the 2018 gubernatorial election. Early life Schuette was born in Midland, Michigan. He is the son of Esther Cathrin (Little) and William H. Schuette, and step-son of Carl Gerstacker, former chairman of the board of The Dow Chemical Company. Schuette graduated from Herbert Henry Dow High School in 1972. He attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and in 1976 graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in the Foreign Service. He also studied at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland and received a J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 1979. Schuette was admitted to the Michigan bar in 1981. Political career Schuette was a delegate to the Michigan Republican conventions in 1972, 1974, an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Flint, Michigan
Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 81,252, making it the twelfth largest city in Michigan. The Flint metropolitan area is located entirely within Genesee County. It is the fourth largest metropolitan area in Michigan with a population of 406,892 in 2020. The city was incorporated in 1855. Flint was founded as a village by fur trader Jacob Smith in 1819 and became a major lumbering area on the historic Saginaw Trail during the 19th century. From the late 19th century to the mid 20th century, the city was a leading manufacturer of carriages and later automobiles, earning it the nickname "Vehicle City". General Motors (GM) was founded in Flint in 1908, and the city grew into an automobile manufacturing powerhouse for GM's Buick and Chevrolet divisions, especially after Wo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |