Bethlehem details 2026 water and sewer budgets; PUC rate case planned, lead‑line work to continue

The Bethlehem City Council heard a presentation from Water and Sewer Director Ed Boscola on the department’s 2026 operating and capital requests, which together with related capital funds account for roughly $69 million.

Boscola described the utilities as “critical infrastructure,” noting the system includes two Poconos reservoirs, a 30‑year‑old filtration plant that produces about 14 million gallons per day on average, nearly 500 miles of water mains and about 250 miles of sewer mains. “Health and safety of the public and the environment are paramount,” Boscola said, adding the department treats about 4 billion gallons of wastewater annually and serves roughly 37,000 metered customers.

The presentation flagged a continuing financial challenge for the water fund: long‑running debt payments that have pressured rates. Boscola said the budget includes money to file a Public Utility Commission rate case next year; a rate increase would take additional time to go into effect. “The last rate increase on the water rates was in 2021,” he said, adding that a PUC filing is the mechanism to seek additional revenue because the water and sewer funds are enterprise funds financed primarily by user fees.

Boscola described several near‑term capital priorities in the water capital program: continued meter replacements under a six‑year plan to upgrade roughly 25,000 meters (about 4,000 per year), a roof replacement at the water treatment plant, and replacement of a concrete storage tank. The department is spending about $2 million per year on the AMI network and has about 21,000 customers already on the new platform.

On public health measures, Boscola said the utility has been testing for PFAS and that drinking water samples have shown nondetectable levels; lead testing completed in 2025 produced results reported as less than 1 part per billion. He described a lead service‑line replacement program that has removed more than 500 lead services so far and noted the federal timeline: identify services by 2027 and complete replacement by 2037, a schedule the department said it is planning to meet.

Council members pressed staff on specific oversight and customer‑service items. Councilwoman Laird asked whether a large industrial user with public air‑quality complaints is subject to extra sewer monitoring; Boscola said the company is in the municipal industrial pretreatment program, is sampled quarterly and is regulated under permit limits and surcharges. Laird also asked who monitors security cameras at plant sites; Boscola said cameras are monitored locally at plants today and that integration with the city’s 9‑1‑1 center is a longer‑term objective but not funded in the 2026 budget.

Resident Will Weber, in the public comment period, urged the city to supply a customer app tied to the new smart meters (examples mentioned included AquaHawk/Itron) at the outset of the rollout so households receive near‑real‑time leak alerts; Boscola said the billing and metering software work is under active evaluation and a line item for new utility billing software is in department contracts (line 42047) split between water and sewer.

The department said efforts to replace aging valves and to complete manhole, lift station and clarifier upgrades are ongoing; it also noted work to explore solar at the water plant and combined heat‑and‑power using digester gas at the wastewater plant as multi‑year projects.

The council did not take any votes during the presentation; staff answered committee questions and the council moved on to additional budget sections later in the evening.