Pennsylvania American Water Celebrates 200 Years in Berwick

State Senator John Gordner (left) and Rep. Dave Millard (right) with members of the Berwick team of Pennsylvania American Water, which was presented with a citation from the PA Senate.

On Thursday, April 12, Pennsylvania American Water held a celebration to commemorate its 200th anniversary of being in operation in the Berwick area. Several local elected officials were on hand to participate in the celebration and recognize the company and its employees for their efforts in providing water service to the Berwick community and surrounding area. 

Chartered in 1818 as the Berwick Water Company, it built a water system using wooden pipes, some of which are still underground (although no longer in use today). It has merged with and been owned by a handful of other organizations over its 200 years, and in the late 20th century, was acquired by American Water, which owns and/or operates water infrastructure systems in 48 states, including in Pennsylvania, where its wholly owned subsidiary, Pennsylvania American Water, serves over two million people, including those in and around Berwick. The Berwick Water Company is American Water’s oldest predecessor company, as it has been around the longest out of American Water’s thousands of local water companies that make up the larger organization.

State Senator John Gordner was on hand to present the company with a citation from the Pennsylvania Senate in recognition of this achievement. Other local officials on hand included Rep. Dave Millard, representatives from Briar Creek Borough, Salem Township, Berwick Borough, the Chamber and Columbia County Commissioners.