Charleston Water Treatment Plant Endures Twin Sewage Leaks amidst Tropical Storm
In the backdrop of the tropical storm Debby, the Charleston Water System’s treatment plant on Plum Island encountered a critical issue. This prominent wastewater treatment facility had to cope with the spillover of sewage water into the adjacent creeks because of significant rainfall. The unprecedented weather conditions resulted in two distinctive leaks at the site.
Details of the Overflow
The unusual climates inflated the usual wastewater levels entering the plant by approximately four to five folds within a week. For instance, the usual 15-20 million gallons a day rose alarmingly to around 95 million gallons a day.
“The unfortunate reality is our plant is really good at bringing that wastewater from the community here, but we’re not very good at the moment of treating it and releasing it into the harbor and so what happens is we kind of get behind and it backs up in the system,” as per Mike Saia, Public Information Administrator, Charleston Water System.
Environmental Impact
One of the leaks, which lasted only a few hours, resulted in an overflow into Dill Creek. The second one flowed into a nameless creek located adjacent to James Island Creek, and it lasted under an hour. The capacity of their pumps to manage the situation gets impacted under conditions of extremely high tide coupled with significant rainfall.
Future Measures
There has been planned a $40 million project to resolve such issues in future. However, its initiation is deferred by about three years. “We know what the solution is. It’s bigger pumps and a new pump station, but that takes about forty million dollars, and it takes about three years to get there from now,” Saia iterates.
Ongoing Work and Its Impact
Currently, a $110 million project is under progress for replacing buildings that have been damaged over time by hydrogen sulfide also known as sewer gas. Post the completion of this project, scheduled in about two years down the line, the work on improving the pump capacity can kick-off.
Past Incidents
This leaking scenario is not new as Dill Creek experienced wastewater overlap approximately four or five times in the past. The unexpected part in the current situation is the sewage leak into the anonymous creek adjacent to James Island Creek. Discussions are still underway to identify the cause of this unique issue.
Current State and Future Course of Action
The Charleston Water System team is working on quantifying the amount of wastewater lost due to both these leaks. Saia said that it will take some time for them to figure that out. After they have a precise value, they will disclose this information to the public.
They have planned to extract samples from the affected creeks after about a week to verify if the bacteriological levels have normalized. Saia assured that they would inform the public when it’s safe to fish or boat in the regions nearby the plant.
Concluding Remarks
Saia voiced his perspective on the unfortunate overflow into the harbor and stated that it goes against the essence of their organization. They are dedicated to protecting the harbor as their mission is to conserve public health and the environment. But he also admitted that they can’t do much about it until another three years, once the $110 million project is completed.
