Providing ultra-pure water to a power plant built in 1938 isn’t easy. The 87-year-old power plant in West Pittsburg, Pennsylvania (no “h” in West Pittsburg), still plays a vital role in regional energy production. But with its age comes corrosion, boiler leaks, and inefficiencies, which cause the plant to consume far more water than its newer counterparts.
Area Supervisor Terry Kelly, a veteran MPW water technician, manages the site. “Normally, one operator visits twice a week,” he explained. “But when temperatures swing or the plant starts and stops repeatedly, we’re here more often—sometimes a lot more often.”
The facility pulls raw water directly from the nearby Beaver River, which Kelly said can resemble chocolate milk after a storm. “We take that muddy river water and run it through ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, and deionization,” he said. “By the end, it’s nearly pure. That’s what protects their turbines and boilers.”
Keeping that process running smoothly takes precision and persistence. Filters are replaced every visit, probes are calibrated regularly, and chemicals are handled with full PPE and careful scheduling. “A big part of the challenge is keeping up with maintenance,” Kelly said. “We use the Phoenix system to track oil changes, pump greasing, and everything else so nothing slips through the cracks.”
But the toughest part may be the plant itself. “It’s an old facility, and they deal with leaks all the time,” Kelly said. “Sometimes I can tell they’ve got a problem before they do, just by how much water they’re using.”
Cold weather adds another wrinkle. “When the river’s freezing, the membranes can’t make as much water. Everything tightens up. Just when they need more water, we can produce less,” he said.
Despite the hurdles, MPW has kept the plant supplied without fail. Past issues with worn membranes and faulty pumps were corrected, sometimes by convincing the plant’s staff to adopt MPW’s recommended upgrades, like variable frequency drives (VFDs). “We haven’t had to bring in a backup DI trailer since we fixed it,” Kelly said proudly.
“Terry oversees multiple sites that perform just as well as this one,” said Regional Service Manager Wade Davis. “Terry’s guys look up to him in his leadership position because he has the experience to back up what he talks about.”
Davis said Kelly has become a great mentor for some of the young minds in the region, armed with the patience required to teach new technicians everything there is to know. “Very few people come into this industry with relevant experience,” Davis said. “And even those that do still have to learn MPW-specific systems.”
“It’s amazing to think about,” Kelly said. “You look at that river after a storm, and it’s just brown and rough. And then we turn that into pure water that keeps a 1930s power plant making electricity in 2025.”