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City struggles with 1,800 gallons of excess water in six hours

 

SALUDA—On December 26, at approximately 9 a.m., one of the city’s sewer lift stations, located at 612 Laurel Drive, began overflowing due to the heavy rainfall in the area. The overflow resulted in the accumulation of four to six inches of rain in the city.

 The overflow occurred for approximately six hours as city crews pumped out the well to mitigate the overflow. The sewer lift station’s wet well was functional and in compliance with safety standards by 3:15 p.m. on the evening of December 26. 

The purpose of sewer lift stations is to move wastewater from lower to higher elevation when needed, particularly in areas where conventional sewer construction would be too costly. A wet well is a component of a sewer lift station, designed as a runoff device that is equipped with a screen for grinding or removing coarse materials

“Approximately 1,800 gallons of wastewater flowed onto the adjacent ground area and into the unnamed tributary Cove Creek,” said Saluda City Manager Steven A. Orr. “The City of Saluda is working to mitigate any future occurrences.”

In October of 2018, Saluda saw an estimated 66,000 gallons of discharge overflow at the Laurel Drive lift station.