2020 Sewer Spill Report

January 28, 2021
This marks Congaree Riverkeeper's eighth year compiling and analyzing data from DHEC's sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) database to publish an annual sewer spill report. In 2020, there were 168 reported sanitary sewer overflows resulting in more than 1,387,000 gallons of sewage spilled in Congaree Riverkeeper’s jurisdictional area.

2020 Sewer Spill Summary

Permittee # of Spills Volume of Spills (Gallons) % of Total
COLUMBIA CITY OF 114 934,041 67.34%
RICHLAND COUNTY UTILITIES & SERVICES 23 222,050 16.01%
BLUE GRANITE WATER COMPANY (Carolina Water Service) 6 179,702 12.96%
WINNSBORO (JACKSON CREEK WWTP) 1 20,000 1.44%
CAYCE CITY OF 7 9,600 0.69%
EAST RICHLAND COUNTY PUBLIC SERVICE DISTRICT 2 5,309 0.38%
SYNERGY UTILITIES LP BUSH RIVER WWTP 1 5,000 0.36%
SC ARMY NATIONAL GUARD - MCRADY TRAINING CENTER SEWER COLLECTION SYSTEM 1 5,000 0.36%
PALMETTO WASTEWATER RECLAMATION LLC - ALPINE UTILITIES STOOP CREEK WWTP 7 3,525 0.25%
TOWN OF LEXINGTON 2 2,500 0.18%
FORT JACKSON SEWER COLLECTION SYSTEM 3 160 0.01%
PALMETTO UTILITIES INC 1 125 0.01%
TOTAL 168 1,387,012 100%
The total volume of sewage spilled in our area in 2020 is more than double last year's, and a significant increase from the last three years.

Many of the larger spills reported last year (approximately 1/3 of the total volume of sewage spilled) were related to the February 2020 flooding.

While the City of Columbia experienced the most spills and highest volume of sewage spilled, 2020 also marked another year of significant spills from Richland County Utilities in the Broad River watershed.

Important Notes

  • This report covers sanitary sewer overflows (generally when sewage spills out of the collection system before it reaches a treatment plant) , but does not include some issues at wastewater plants, like the plant upset at the Palmetto Wastewater Reclamation (Alpine) WWTP that impacted the Lower Saluda in September.

  • The table above only represents the reported sanitary sewer overflows within the Congaree Riverkeeper jurisdictional area. Several sewer providers in the Midlands had spills that impacted other waterbodies, including including Blue Granite Water Company (Lake Murray) and Palmetto Utilities (Spears Creek/Wateree River watershed) .

  • Most sewer providers are only required to report spills that are over 500 gallons or that impact a waterbody.

  • This report also only accounts for sewer overflows that were reported to DHEC. Some sewer providers and satellite sewer systems fail to officially report their spills to DHEC.

Top Ten Reported Sewer Spills

Date Permitte Volume Discharged (Gallons) Waterbody
10/5/20 COLUMBIA CITY OF 315,000 TRIBUTARY TO MILL CREEK
2/6/20 BLUE GRANITE WATER COMPANY (FRIARSGATE WWTP DECOMISSIONING) 162,000 RAWLS CREEK
2/6/20 COLUMBIA CITY OF 127,800 *
5/2/20 RICHLAND COUNTY UTILITIES & SERVICES (BROAD RIVER WWTF) 100,000 NICHOLAS CREEK
10/7/20 COLUMBIA CITY OF 53,900 UNNAMED POND AND TRIBUTARY TO MILL CREEK
2/6/20 COLUMBIA CITY OF 44,562 *
2/6/20 COLUMBIA CITY OF 44,450 *
7/13/20 COLUMBIA CITY OF 38,250 LAKE KATHERINE
1/13/20 COLUMBIA CITY OF 37,355 TRIBUTARY TO SMITH BRANCH
2/7/20 COLUMBIA CITY OF 26,663 *

* The City of Columbia reported multiple spills on 2/6 and 2/7 impacting the Saluda River, Lake Katherine (Gills Creek), Crane Creek, and Kinley Creek.

SSO Hotspots

Lower Saluda River

Multiple sewer providers had significant spills (as wells as the wastewater plant upset noted above) that impacted the Lower Saluda River. These spills are particularly concerning because of the high number of recreational river users on the Lower Saluda. Unfortunately, 2021 is not off to a great start either, with the City of Columbia reporting more than 100,000 gallons of sewage spilling into the Lower Saluda already this year.

Broad River

Both Richland County Utilities and the City of Columbia experienced several significant spills that impacted the Broad River and its tributaries.

Past Reports

Click the links to view past reports from 2017, 2018, and 2019.