Millions in federal funds will help replace East Cooper septic systems with sewer service | News

MOUNT PLEASANT — Homes that depend on septic tanks near Shem Creek and in the Snowden community may soon switch to sewer lines thanks to more than $17 million in federal funding.

The work aims to address failing sewage systems that can pollute yards and nearby waterways with untreated human waste.

Mount Pleasant Waterworks will contribute an additional $5 million to the initiative and will partner with the city and Charleston County to provide funds to help homeowners pay sewer and environmental fees that can exceed $9,000.

The costly project will extend sewers and provide connections to 113 homes near Shem Creek and another 62 in Snowden. The sewer lines will also be extended in the 7-mile community along US Highway 17.



WATERPROOF SHEM CREEK: Mount Pleasant Waterworks plans to expand sewer lines to 113 homes in the Shem Creek watershed that now use septic systems that have been blamed for polluting the water. (Source: Mount Pleasant Waterworks


“This will provide a new service where it wasn’t available,” said Allan Clum, the utility’s general manager. “It’s for public health, it’s for protecting the environment. We want to eliminate these septic tanks.”

Some residents with failing septic systems have complained for years that raw sewage can sit on their properties after a heavy rain, and water tests have repeatedly found fecal bacteria in Shem Creek.



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Shem Creek in Mount Pleasant is one of the saltwater creeks and rivers in the Charleston area that frequently tests positive for high levels of fecal matter. File/Personal

Faecal bacteria come from human or animal waste, but Charleston Waterkeeper Andrew Wunderley said tests showed septic systems were the main problem. He said creeks lined with homes that have sewage hookups don’t fill up with fecal bacteria when it rains like Shem Creek does.

“We find that high levels of bacteria are most persistent in watersheds that still have septic tanks,” he said. “Coastal soils and high water tables are not good for septic tanks.”

Wunderley said Mount Pleasant Waterworks’ plan to extend sewer lines and provide more hookups is “particularly good news for people who want to fish, swim or paddle.”

Does Shem Creek need warnings about high levels of fecal bacteria?

In Snowden, which lies between Long Point Road and Foster Creek, a federally funded attempt was made to get homes connected to the sewage system after Hurricane Hugo decades ago ran out of money and left many homes on septic systems.

“We’ve been waiting ever since for them to put the pipes in the ground so the rest of Snowden can be hooked up,” said community resident Michael German, 70. “It’s a long-overdue improvement.”

For years, one obstacle was that Mount Pleasant required land to be incorporated into the city in order to receive sewer connections. That changed last year when the city said homes with septic systems could connect without joining the city.

The Mount Pleasant change in annexation rules could help those with failing septic systems

Money was the other hurdle, and that changed because of the federal American Rescue Plan Act, which narrowly passed in 2021. Among the South Carolina congressional delegation, only Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-6th District, supported the legislation.

Last year, Charleston County agreed to provide $4 million in ARPA funding for the Snowden Sewage Project and an additional $500,000 to help unincorporated residents connect to Mount Pleasant’s sewage system.

Charleston County plans to spend millions on failing sewage systems in Snowden, East Cooper

Then Mount Pleasant Waterworks was approved $10 million in ARPA funding for the Shem Creek watershed and 7-mile sewers, and an additional $3 million for Snowden.

“It’s an expensive service,” Clum said. “That’s why Mount Pleasant Waterworks couldn’t do it alone.”

The utility grants are part of $1.37 billion in ARPA funding for sanitation and water infrastructure projects statewide.

$1.4 billion is earmarked for SC water projects, including nearly $100 million in Greenville County

As well as extending sewer lines to the 62 homes in Snowden that currently don’t have access, the utility hopes to connect the remaining 40 or 50 homes that have access to existing lines.

According to Clum, 11 homeowners have signed letters of intent, but some have waited to see what kind of assistance might be available given the cost of connecting to the sewage system.

First, there are mark-up fees charged by the utility, which add up to just over $9,000. Add to this the cost of installing a connection from the house to the utility sewer line and the cost of pumping out and filling a septic tank – both of which are paid for by homeowners and together could cost several thousand dollars.



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Grants from the utilities, city and county are expected to cover impact fees.

“The exciting thing for me is that we have a clean water loan and the city has agreed to top it up,” Clum said.

Mount Pleasant Waterworks will provide a $4,500 credit to those with sewer-connected septic tanks. Mount Pleasant adjusts that for city dwellers, and the county adjusts it for county dwellers who meet income guidelines.

To be eligible for the county’s $4,500 loan, applicants would need to earn no more than 80 percent of the region’s median income. That’s a ceiling of $51,450 for a single person, $58,800 for a two-person household, $66,150 for three people, and higher amounts for larger households.

Federal regulations require the millions spent on the sewage projects to be spent by the end of 2026, and Clum hopes they’ll be completed sooner.

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