What effect does sewer capacity have on Greenville’s growth?
Sewer. It isn’t as exciting a subject as a new hotel or mixed-use project, but combine a 100-year old, crumbling city sewer system with the skyrocketing growth stalking Greenville, and the city and its environs could soon face the “ticking time bomb” at least one Upstate developer fears.
So how are the city of Greenville and wastewater treatment company Renewable Water Resources (ReWa) handling the challenge? As builders keep building and toilets keep flushing, will Greenville’s sewer infrastructure be the clog that stops Greenville development? UBJ takes an in depth look.
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An aging infrastructure
Sewer treatment service is a joint enterprise in Greenville County. ReWa partners with 18 public subdistricts, including the city of Greenville, to collect and transport wastewater to ReWa’s treatment plants. Each subdistrict is responsible for supplying and maintaining its portion of the collection system, all of which feed into ever larger ReWa pipes and ultimately to one of eight treatment plants along the Saluda, Enoree, and Reedy rivers.
Greenville’s sewer infrastructure is one of the oldest in the area, put in place about 100 years ago. It contains about 330 miles of pipes, about 85 percent of which are clay, said Dwayne Cooper, engineering services manager with the city of Greenville. “With an older infrastructure, you’ve got older clay lines that don’t necessarily keep all of the sewer in.”
Clay pipes, while still functional, have a joint every four feet and tend to leak at those joints, Cooper explains. Also, over time, clay begins to crumble. In contrast, newer materials such as PVC plastic and ductal iron, have joints every 20 feet.
Over the years, stormwater – the runoff from rain and storms – has crept into the sewer system at an alarming rate, taking up precious available capacity, Cooper says. Commonly referred to as “infill and infiltration,” or INI, this is the city’s biggest challenge, he said.
“A lot of the capacity of the city sewer system is being taken up by rain water. When it rains, you see a spike of flow that can lead to an overflow – where water starts coming out of a manhole and runs down to a creek or steam. We’re trying to prevent that,” Cooper said. Environmental regulations are also on the rise regarding system maintenance, he said. “DHEC and the EPA are going to make sure that we’re in compliance.”
Dealing with the INI issue is like death by a thousand paper cuts, said Gregory Wright, engineering manager with ReWa. “There are nicks here and there and each individually don’t do damage, but all of them together cause major problems.”
City councilwoman Gaye Sprague agrees. “If rain is getting in, you know what’s getting out,” she said. “There’s an environmental impact to the Reedy River and we’ve built our whole economic base around the river.”
Fix the worst first
Sprague said while sewer has always been at the forefront of her mind, “it was easier to think about the pretty picture rather than the basic infrastructure” for many others.
Infiltration became such an issue in the early 2000’s that DHEC put the city of Greenville under a consent order to correct the problem. The order was lifted in 2006 when the city partnered with ReWa on a 15-year plan to reduce INI in city sewer lines, Sprague said.
The city regularly shares information with ReWa and the other subdistricts, all of which have 15-year agreements with the wastewater treatment company.
Together, ReWa and the subdistricts “have removed millions and millions of gallons of stormwater out of ReWa’s treatment system,” Cooper said. “For the past 10 years, we’ve been lining sewers and fixing sewers. We’re making sure that we’re not getting water into our lines, overtaxing the system and overtaxing the treatment plants. We’re keeping the sanitary sewer in our lines and not polluting the environment.”
Cooper says the goal is to have all of city sewer lines under acceptable INI ratios within the next five years.
To repair sewer pipes, the city uses a liner, like a fiberglass sock, to plug holes and restore flow. Pipe bursting, which pulls a new pipe through an existing clay pipe and then breaks off the clay, is also effective, as it maintains the slope and can be accomplished from manhole to manhole, which is easier and more cost effective than digging up streets and sidewalks, Cooper said.
In 2010, Sprague and councilwoman Lillian Brock Flemming championed a plan to “fix the worst first.” Sewer fees were raised from 3 percent to 5 percent per year. Using flow meters, city workers located where infiltration was worst and worked with ReWa to fix the deteriorating sewer lines, said Sprague.
Solutions and costs
The city has made progress. In 2010, 77 percent of sewer lines hadn’t been touched for years. In 2012 that number dropped to 56 percent and is down to 18 percent in 2015.
“We’re well on our way to fixing the INI issue,” said Cooper. City crews regularly clean lines, remove grease and obstructions like root blockage, make point repairs and replace sections of lines. Each line is cleaned every three to four years, he said.
The city has completed two large capital improvement projects: the Haynie-Sirrine project rehabbed 4.1 miles of sewer lines at a cost of $4 million; upgrades to 1,440 feet of sewer lines at East Park Avenue cost $1.8 million. Other recent CIP projects include a $1.3 million wastewater system rehabilitation in the central business district, basin 9 and basin 15; a $2.1 million rehab to 12.3 miles of sewer lines in basin 7 and a $632,000 rehab of 27.2 miles of sewer lines in basin 17 and 19. The city has also spent $665,000 to model its sewer infrastructure so it can more easily identify capacity.
ReWa also has two major projects in progress: a $9 million Richland Creek project will replace two smaller pipes with one larger one from Cleveland Park to Rutherford Road, and a Downtown Conveyance Study is underway to determine how to handle additional flow in downtown Greenville. Wright says a 2008 master plan identified the need to install a third pipe downtown on the Reedy River, construction that is “not going to be easy or public friendly. Our pipes are built right under the Swamp Rabbit Trail.”
Wright says the new study will seek less disruptive alternatives to digging up existing pipes. Ideas include tunneling under downtown Greenville and the waterfall to carry sewer, although that’s a very expensive option, he said. Another possibility would be to store extra flow upstream in tankage, then pump that out when it’s not raining, keeping flow at maximum capacity.
The study is expected to be completed by the end of 2015 and will then go to the ReWa board of directors for a vote. ReWa is also undergoing detailed planning and hydraulic modeling of its pipe infrastructure, said Wright, to determine if pipes need to be upsized now to meet future and current demand. That study effort should be completed by fall 2016.
Who pays? Sprague said the city’s operating budget does include some maintenance funding, but it’s far from enough. Other funding sources include grants from the Greenville Water System, bonds and revenue from the downtown infrastructure TIF, she said.
“We’re in transition,” Sprague said. “The TIF money is going away and that was always a funding source for the CBD and the West End.”
The challenge for developers and homebuilders
With each new project in Greenville, developers are taking a risk. Both the city and ReWa say they operate on a “first-come-first-served” methodology regarding sewer capacity.
“It’s a race to the finish line,” says Joe Bryant, Greenville branch manager for the engineering firm Seamon Whiteside. Capacity may be adequate for one developer’s project, but not for the next one nearby. Bryant says sewer capacity hasn’t stopped one of his projects yet, but he knows of other projects that have run into problems.
Topography is also an issue, Bryant said. Some projects that are near each other may tie into different sewer lines depending on where the lines connect. Sewer flows downstream, not uphill. He cited that one developer is having an issue with sewer tie-ins on a project in the West End right now due to that reality.
Greenville’s rapid growth has placed new demands on the system for additional capacity, Cooper acknowledged, with a sharp rise in requests in the West End. “There are a lot of vacant parcels and a lot of demand with a lot of good projects,” he said.
The first step for anyone considering developing property is to contact the city’s Environmental Engineering Office and fill out a PSSAR (preliminary sanitary sewer agency review) form to determine the sewer capacity for the project, Cooper said.
“Then it’s either a yes or a no. If we have capacity available you get it, if we don’t, you don’t,” he said. “We justify every answer based on the flow or condition of the system. It’s not that we like one project over another. As engineers we look at the facts. It’s pretty plain and simple.”
When capacity isn’t there
Cooper said the city has two options if capacity is an issue: remove rainwater (infiltration), or enlarge the pipes. If the targeted sewer pipe is one the city has already modeled and surveyed, decisions can be made within minutes – does the pipe, with its existing size and existing slope have capacity?
If the targeted pipe feeds into some of the older, established neighborhoods the city hasn’t evaluated recently, a decision can take months, Cooper said. “We can’t grant capacity on a line that’s been overburdened and some of those older systems, built in the 1930’s and 40’s are in pretty rough shape.”
ReWa has a new two-step system in place for developers, who are encouraged to contact the local sewer sub district about capacity first. If the locals approve, the request then goes to ReWa. Any request over 1,000 gallons per day goes to ReWa for approval, Wright said.
ReWa does not commit to the flow until final plans are approved, but a developer can buy the capacity ahead of time by paying the $2,500 per household new account fee, he said. While ReWa doesn’t require this fee up front for developments up to 100 lots, paying it can ensure the capacity is there when the plans are ready, he said.
“The worst thing a developer can do is buy a piece of property and develop plans and then come to us or the city and then find out there is a problem,” Wright said.
What happens when the capacity isn’t there? Right now, the city ordinance says it’s up to the developer to pay for additional capacity, Cooper said. The solution could be as minor as re-sectioning a pipe, or require a major capacity improvement. The city realizes these are costs most developments can’t absorb, the city does not currently have a funding source to increase capacity, Cooper said.
“How do you fairly assess responsibility?” Sprague asked. “It’s more difficult within city limits, but we have to make decisions based on objective criteria.”
A case study
Take the Maydell Park subdivision by local developer Rick Quinn as a case study. Quinn initially proposed to build 34 cottage homes ranging from $175,000 to $200,000, a price range and product that the city had told him was desperately needed. Quinn met with engineers, received approval from 
the planning ommission and was ready to beginning building when city engineers told him that the detention pond pipes that served that land were too small. Quinn’s options? To dig his own detention pond at a cost of roughly $50,000 or reduce the number of homes.
He chose the latter: Maydell Park will now be 12 lots with single family homes starting at $350,000. Not exactly what he wanted to build, but it’s what he had to do, Quinn said.
Wright said if capacity is an issue, ReWa works with developers to come up with alternatives and cost sharing for improvements that need to be made. ReWa may add in additional money to accommodate future growth for necessary improvements. “Each one is unique and different and handled on a case-by-case basis,” he said.
Obvious questions
So is the city’s investment in sewer infrastructure keeping pace with the city’s growth? No, says Sprague. Some areas of the city are developing at a more intense rate in the very areas “where we are at capacity,” Sprague said. What was a single-family lot is now a restaurant or apartment complex, which have a higher sewer demand per acre. The real challenge is when you get to a hotel that needs 50,000 gallons, said Cooper.
At some point, the city just won’t have the ability to upsize existing pipes, Sprague said. “Sewer may end up being the regulating factor to high growth. We’re down to the hard stuff now, and there’s still a lot to do.”
Wright says ReWa has identified problem areas in the Brushy Creek watershed by the hospital, where flow is too great for the infrastructure’s capacity in wet weather, he said. “There is plenty of dry weather capacity. It’s too much of the wet weather getting in [to the pipes] –way beyond the standard. As new development projects come in, we’re concerned about approving it.” Wright says ReWa is working with the city of Greenville and two other subdistricts that feed into that area to reduce the INI.
Some obvious question arise out of all this: Is Greenville allocating its limited funds appropriately? Should the city be looking at moving public works at an estimated cost of $15-$20 million and building a new city park at a cost of $12 million? Or would the money be better spent fixing infrastructure such as sewer, roads and burying utilities?
The City Council has just enlisted a consultant to do a sewer rate study “to transition us to the next phase,” Sprague said. The study will look at fees, financial help that may be available, and alternative funding sources such as synthetic fees similar to those used at Verdae, where the developer pays upfront costs and the city reimburses over a period of several years.
The study will examine how the city “can better maintain our system and to make sure we’re doing it right,” said Cooper. “A lot of other cities are going through this. We don’t want to reinvent the wheel.”
What can be done now
The city might also look into a property owner awareness campaign. Most homeowners don’t realize that they are responsible for their underground pipes all the way to the city pipe, Cooper said. Sometimes a homeowner might have a roof drain or sump pump connected directly into the sanitary sewer without even knowing it. A hole, cracks or loose joints in sewer pipes or even not having a clean out cap can potentially send several thousand gallons of rainwater into the sewer system.
“I can assure you that there are rodents in the sewer lines,” said Cooper. “The holes in the pipes are letting them in. Tree roots are pretty bad as well – that’s a huge issue.” Lining a pipe solves the infiltration problem, and cuts off the tree’s water and nutrient source.
Loan programs, private funding, public-private partnerships, and grants are also options, but “is there a better way that would be equitable for everybody?” Cooper asked. “We effectively use every dime of our budget to rehabilitate the sewer system and reconnaissance with smoke tests and CCTV cameras so we know exactly what we need to do and where we need to do it. What’s the most effective way to rehabilitate the pipe? We’re not going to solve this issue in five minutes, so let’s not do something that’s going to waste money. Let’s do it as effectively and cost effective as possible.”
The next development could pop up along Pleasantburg, Wade Hampton, Haywood roads – all of the major corridors are seeing growth, Cooper said. All of the neighborhoods are experiencing infill.
“Sewer is not sexy but it’s a huge issue when it’s not going well,” he said.
“We’re trying to make up for a lot of lost time,” said Sprague.
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