As the owner of the American House Hotel, Phillip Cressman saw an urgent need to develop a public water system for not only his property but also the Borough of Perkasie overall. He, along with some fellow investors, formed the Perkasie Water Company. The Perkasie Water Company was organized in March 1895 under a Borough of Perkasie Ordinance, which ran water pipes in Perkasie and obtained its charter from the state to supply water to the Borough. The Perkasie Water Company purchased the Willet farm on Three Mile Run Road (with water rights) and two other properties from John Dillon and John Freed. The new plant consisted of an earth basin next to the springs on the Dillon-Freed land, a six-inch water main across the farm, and roads to a million gallon reservoir near the south side (Perkasie side) of the railroad tunnel. From the reservoir an 8" distribution main was laid down from 10th & Vine Street under the railroad to Seventh Street, along Seventh Street to Market Street. Other branches of pipe supplied the more heavily settled areas of town for a total of 3 _ miles (seventeen thousand feet) of pipe in 1895. There were 30 hydrants, 36 valves and 50 services at this time. The work and plant were completed in the fall of that year. The population of the Borough in 1890 was 450, by 1900 the population had grown to 1800.

An increased number of consumers required expansion of the system in 1900. A brick pumping station was erected and a Deming Triplex pump driven by an Otto gasoline engine was installed. For ten years this system served the community. In 1902, The Perkasie Water Company reorganized and changed its name to the Perkasie Water Supply Company. In 1911 Keller Springs (1 - miles east of farm on slope of Rock Hill) was acquired in order to expand the system. A cast iron line connected the Keller Springs supply to the Willet Farm & the rest of the system. A filter and hydrochloric pump plant filtered and chlorinated the water to avoid possible contamination by the Railroad Company. The water line from the water farm to the reservoir was expanded to increase capacity for the Keller Springs water. The water line from the water farm to the reservoir was expanded to an 8" pipe. Extensions were made to distribute water in town including South Perkasie. In 1929 there were 75,000 feet of pipe in place to serve the Borough of Perkasie. In 1908 the PWSC signed its first agreement to provide public water to East Rockhill Township and in 1911 water service was extended to South Perkasie (known at the time as Bridgeton). Also in 1908, the Perkasie Sewer Company was formed.

Until the 1920's, users of the system originally paid flat rates for water use. Perkasie Water Supply Company was ordered to discontinue this practice in 1921 by the Public Service Commission; the company was given five years to install meters. A few meters were installed as early as 1900, but it was not until the 1920's that a general metering system was in place. By 1929, 99% of all water service was metered. By 1954 there were 96,000 feet of pipe, 86 hydrants, 220 valves, and 1150 services.

In 1955 the Borough of Perkasie, under the Municipal Authority's Act of 1945 formed the Perkasie Borough Authority (PBA) for the purpose of purchasing the assets of the Perkasie Water Supply Company and Perkasie Sewer Company. Since then the Authority has been providing potable water and sanitary sewers to not only the Borough but also neighboring townships and boroughs.

By 1965 people were not only moving to Perkasie but also to the surrounding towns. Sellersville, Silverdale and Telford were popular places but also were the villages like Blooming Glen in Hilltown and the Three Mile Run Valley of East Rockhill. The ability to handle sewage became paramount in the late 1960’s and the creation of the Department of Environmental Resources in the early 1970’s virtually brought growth to a halt. For years the question of Regional Sewer Treatment versus small package plants raged on. The Regional alternative eventually won out over PBA’s many objections. PBA wasn’t opposed to Regional Treatment as they had been treating sewer for the Borough of Sellersville since 1908, but they were opposed to a Regional Sewer Authority being responsible for sewage treatment as opposed to PBA providing the service.

In 1973 under the threat of losing Federal funding for new sewers and plant upgrades, the Borough of Perkasie and the Borough of Sellersville formed the Pennridge Wastewater Treatment Authority (PWTA) and in 1977 PBA sold its sewage treatment facilities to PWTA.

With the formation of PWTA, the installation of sewers, and the recently completed sewer plant ready for operation, the flood gates opened. Fifteen years of pent up demand for homes took off like a rocket. The area population exploded.

The amount of new homes coupled with The Horrible Perkasie Fire of 1988 exposed many of the weaknesses in the water and sewer system. Faced with additional demands in East Rockhill, the rebuilding of the Perkasie Town Center and in the face of another sewer moratorium PBA created an aggressive plan to improve fire protection, create new sources of supply and address their aging sewer system.

With the dawn of a new century and the survival of Y2K, PBA completed all but one project of the comprehensive plan adopted in 1990. The new century also ushered in several new unfunded mandates, the most expensive being arsenic removal. The Authority not only met the challenge but also received a grant from DEP for innovative technology. The Authority also survived a hostile takeover attempt from the Borough of Perkasie. We emerged from that experience more confident than ever in our role as the largest water purveyor in Upper Bucks and determined to continue to pursue excellence in providing services to our customers.

The Perkasie Borough Authority has four deep wells in the Three Mile Run Water Shed and three deep wells in the Perkiomen Water Shed, although two of these wells have been taken out of service due to high limits of arsenic. The distribution system has grown to over 200,000 feet of piping, 377 fire hydrants, over 1100 main valves, and in excess of 3750 service line valves. Two storage facilities of 1,000,000 gallons and 2,000,000 gallons, respectively, ensure a continued supply of domestic, as well as fire, uses. Today, there 3,342 household receiving water in Perkasie, 1,082 in East Rockhill Township, 23 in West Rockhill Township, and 40 in Hilltown Township. Water rates range from $3.25 for 1 through 5,000 gallons to $5.30 for 26,000 gallons and over. Water conservation kits are available at the PBA office. Billing for water is determined by thousands of gallons passing through the water meet during a billing period. Meters are read by a remote station attached to the outside of the building being serviced.