City of Reading Public Works

The City of Reading Public Works Department are the stewards of Reading’s built and natural shared infrastructure. Reading just celebrated its 275th anniversary and are looking forward to the next 275 years! Under Mayor Eddie Morán’s leadership, and with the support of our Environmental Advisory Council, the Sustainability Division was established to advance Reading’s goals of 100% renewable energy use by 2050, adapting to our changing climate and building for climate resilience.  

Reading is in the Middle Schuylkill River watershed and is part of over 10 smaller stream watersheds. We also manage the last protected water supply on the Schuylkill River. We just completed a $180 million upgrade to our wastewater treatment plant and are happy to report that 2023 we were fully compliant with our permit, and we are in the process of completing upgrades to our collection system. Reading is also looking forward to adding two new rain gardens in 2024, and additional pollinator habitat, which will help us better manage our stormwater and increase our pollution prevention capabilities. 

Reading Public Works also sponsors the Reading Climate Corps, part of the Delaware River Basin Corps Network. Our Corps members are from Reading, and work on Reading environmental stewardship projects such as tree planting (over 1000), trail maintenance, stormwater infrastructure maintenance, and event support. We are looking forward to our 2024 cohort starting in late summer! 

Reading Public Works also supports Keep Reading Beautiful, a program of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. Our Community Advisory Committee is a diverse group of organizations and residents working to improve the cleanliness and beauty of our City. Projects include identifying and improving green spaces, community cleanup support, and sponsoring our Super Neighbor competition, where people nominate well kept properties in the city for recognition, winners win a gift card and window decal, and an entry to a drawing to win a block party sponsored by Public Works and Keep Reading Beautiful. 

We also co-sponsor and co-plan Earth Day Berks, held in City Park on April 20, 2024, from noon-6pm. We invite you to join us for live bands, educational programming, special item collections, food trucks and more! To sponsor, volunteer, exhibit, or check us out: www.earthdayberks.org 

Reading Public Works has over 160 employees: engineers, heavy equipment operators, tradespeople, administrators, laboratory technicians, a sign shop, arborist, park maintenance crews, waste management crews, wastewater plant operators, and project managers who all work to make Reading a great place to live, learn, work, & play!