How One Company Contaminated Pittsburgh’s Drinking Water | Article Review

The article How One Company Contaminated Pittsburgh’s Drinking Water focuses on the case of the potable water contamination by lead and reveals the irresponsible policies conducted by PWSA, the company that supplies water to Pittsburgh. The population of the city suffered from the water pollution because of the poor performance of PWSA and its irresponsible policy not only in regard to the local population but also in regard to its own employees, especially those responsible for the quality and safety of water. Therefore, the case of PWSA and the contamination of potable water in Pittsburgh is the case of the lack of social responsibility of the company that attempted to save costs by all means, regardless of effects of its attempts on employees of the company and the local community.

PWSA company supplies water to Pittsburgh, but the company experienced substantial difficulties with the steep decline of the infrastructure and equipment of the company which needed the repair. However, the high costs of the company and the poor management made the repair unaffordable that ultimately led to the decline of the water quality, although the water in Pittsburgh was of the high quality. In such a situation, the poor management of the company became the major reason for the decline of the water quality. In attempts to save costs, the company cut jobs. As a result, many quality managers and other professionals responsible for the quality of water and its safety to consumer health have lost their jobs. In a combination with the poor management of the company, layoffs resulted in the consistent decline of the quality of the water that ultimately resulted in the supply of water dangerous for human health in Pittsburgh because of the increased level of lead. In such a situation, PWSA confronted the problem of the decline of the water quality that led to the deterioration of the water quality supply that put the public health of Pittsburgh under a threat.

The case of PWSA reveals the full extent to which policies conducted by the company were irresponsible. PWSA ignored completely its corporate social responsibility. In this regard, the corporate social responsibility of PWSA is two-fold. On the one hand, the company was responsible in regard to its employees because they have dedicated many years of their life to work in the company to be laid off one day just because the company needed to save costs. However, the company experienced financial problems not because of the poor performance of employees but mainly because of high administrative costs and ineffective management of the company. In such a situation, the company needed to change its management and optimize its organizational performance rather than to cut jobs. Instead, the company simply cut jobs and left many of its former employees and managers unemployed. On the other hand, the company manifested the lack of social responsibility in regard to the local population because Pittsburgh community relied heavily on the water supply from PWSA. The public health in the area depended on the quality of water supplied by the company. However, the company did not undertake any steps to repair its infrastructure and equipment, although the repair was essential to make the water safe for the population. More important, the water quality in the area is high but the company did not take responsibility to preserve the quality of water.

Hence, the question that begs is: How could social responsibility policy change the situation in Pittsburgh in terms of the water supply? What are mechanisms of the public control over such companies as PWSA to ensure their social responsibility and safety of products delivered to consumers?

Works Cited:

How One Company Contaminated Pittsburgh’s Drinking Water. Wired, 2016. Web. Accessed November 9, 2016 https://www.wired.com/2016/10/pittsburghs-drinking-water-got-contaminated-lead/

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
Available at:

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]
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