View of the water treatment facilities for the Aspinwall water treatment plant with the Brilliant Pumping Station located directly behind it. The plant was initially built in 1879 by William Kerr and his sons. In 1914, the Brilliant Pumping Station took the place of the Montrose Pumping Station as the primary supplier of water for the city of Pittsburgh. The treatment plant was built in 1907. Prior to the construction of the water treatment plant, Pittsburgh had the highest rate of typhoid fever cases in the nation. In 1923, the treatment plant had the distinction of being the largest sand filtration plant in the world.
