The weather isn't something usually associated with the Butler Area Sewer Authority.

But, for Mike Fontaine, it's a big part of his job at the utility.

Each morning Fontaine, the chief operator and lab manager, leaves his BASA office to check the weather.

After measuring the temperature and precipitation, he logs onto the Internet and reports his readings to the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh.

The National Weather Service uses Fontaine's readings to help shape the accuracy of its forecasts for the Butler area.

Wednesday, the utility was given a Link to Service Award by the National Weather Service to mark 50 years of reporting from the Litman Road facility.

Bob Coblentz of the National Weather Service said the BASA station is the “cream of the crop.”

“This is a big deal to us to show how we appreciate these people,” he said. “These people are all volunteers; they get no compensation.”

The National Weather Service provides the equipment, and Fontaine said he gathers the information each morning, recording rain data, high and low and current temperatures and, in the winter, snowfall and snow cover amounts.

“It's a good program because it benefits us too,” Fontaine said. “Pretty much all we do is weather-related.”

Coblentz said the weather service relies on the network of observers to gather “climatic information.”

“We go out and recruit them,” he said. “We like to have one in each county; most have two.”

He said utilities, especially water filtration and sewage plants, are a common place to put the equipment. The weather service also has stations at Pennsylvania American Water sites in New Castle and Indiana.

“They have a vested interest in the information,” Coblentz said. “Some are already doing it themselves.”

The National Weather Service uses the information gathered at the remote stations to verify temperatures and climates given in the forecasts.

“It paints a picture for us of the climatology,” Coblentz said.

He said there are about 9,000 weather observers nationwide, but he has 66 in his 36-county area.

While many observers are businesses, there also are individual observers or families with an interest in the weather. The Link to Service award is given to businesses every 25 years.

John Schon, operations director at BASA, said the utility monitors rainfall countywide and has three additional rain gauges across its service area.

The weather information BASA gathers helped the utility design wet weather diversion pump stations and flow equalization storage tanks to manage significant rainfall, he said.

Schon said there is always something to learn about the weather and the variations in the county, even from city to city.

“What I find fascinating is the variation that occurs,” he said. “It's pretty amazing how the weather changes.”

BASA was constructed by the City of Butler in the 1930s and was incorporated and began serving Butler Township in the 1960s. The utility now serves 14,500 customers from the City of Butler to Summit Township and East Butler Borough.