Charleston Waterkeeper and Charleston Water System Announce Agreement to Address Sewer Overflows in West Ashley

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Charleston Waterkeeper, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, and the Charleston Water System (CWS) reached an agreement to address sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) events in West Ashley. SSOs occur when untreated or partially treated sewage discharges from a sewer system into streets and nearby marshes and rivers.

The agreement was negotiated after Charleston Waterkeeper sent CWS a notice of intent to sue in 2024 under the federal Clean Water Act to address sewage overflows, most of which occur within the former St. Andrews Public Service District wastewater collection system. CWS was forced to take over this system in 1995 via a South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (now SCDES) consent decree because PSD infrastructure had been improperly designed, installed, and mismanaged for decades.

In the agreement, CWS commits to:

• Continue and expedite planned inspections, repairs, and replacements to its sewer system to reduce sewage overflow events in West Ashley according to agreed-upon deadlines;
• Carry out more rigorous pipe inspections where necessary in West Ashley;
• Send Charleston Waterkeeper, and make publicly available, quarterly reports on the progress of their pipe inspection and repair program in West Ashley; and
• Deploy a customer notification system that alerts customers when there is a sewage overflow event in their area. CWS and Charleston Waterkeeper encourage customers throughout the system, but especially in West Ashley, to sign up for customer alert notifications to receive timely notifications of overflow events.

In the agreement, CWS also commits to recommending to their board the funding of a newly established sewer lateral line replacement grant program for homeowners who have vitrified clay pipe sewer line connections to their homes. The program will offer a defined reimbursement for the replacement of these lines, with recommended funding for the next five years of $50,000 annually.

“Stopping sewage overflows, especially in West Ashley, has been a top priority for Charleston Waterkeeper for years,” said Andrew Wunderley, Charleston Waterkeeper. “This settlement shows that Charleston Water System is ready to take care of this serious problem, and we’re excited to be part of the positive result.”

“This doesn’t just address the issue of sewage overflows—this agreement will create new solutions that will help the community for years to come,” said Emily Wyche, SELC Senior Attorney. “We’re pleased with this result that followed many productive conversations with Charleston Water System.”

In addition to the improvements laid out in the agreement, CWS has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to make significant improvements to sewer infrastructure in West Ashley and to the former St. Andrews PSD sewer system, including closing two failed wastewater treatment plants, eliminating illegal sewer bypasses that directly led to waterways, and implementing a nationally recognized inflow/infiltration (I/I) reduction program that has eliminated 5 million gallons of I/I per year. As a result of this work, far fewer overflows occur today at a few remaining trouble spots after very heavy rain events.

“We’ve spent untold millions to improve that old St. Andrews sewer system and integrate it with our own and will spend nearly $200 million in the next decade to finally resolve our lingering sewer overflow issues that appear after significant rain events,” said Wesley Ropp CWS CEO. “We look forward to honoring our commitments as part of the agreement and continuing to work with Charleston Waterkeeper on achieving our mutual goals.”