Posted on February 26, 2018
By Matt Bise, The Gazette
There is plenty of fresh water in both Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie. The only challenge is getting enough out to quench the demand from a growing number of businesses and residents.
While the U.S Army Corps of Engineers’ Charleston District is designing and constructing the pipelines that will carry much-needed water throughout the Lowcountry, Santee Cooper serves as the technical advisor. Santee Cooper oversees both Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie’s water systems.
Nourishing a robust economy and a growing population with clean water is a big task. According to information from Santee Cooper, both Lakes Marion and Moultrie form the state’s largest freshwater system and serves about 200,000 people. That number will continue to grow rapidly as more toilets, showers and dishwashers flood into the area.
The utility is staying proactive as demand surges. The Moultrie system treated and delivered 6,856 million gallons of water in 2016, a 9 percent increase over 2015. The plant set a monthly demand record in August 2017 at 709 million gallons.
Currently construction is underway on a $27 million expansion to increase output. A completion date for the additional treatment facility is planned for the fall of 2018.
Meantime the collaborative effort between the Lake Marion Regional Water System, operated by Santee Cooper and the US Army Corps of Engineers, broke ground on Feb. 12. The project adds more than 10 miles of pipe between Harleyville and Ridgeville.
The latest work, expected to be finished in early 2019, is called the “Dorchester Reach” a 10.7 mile section that will connect a completed, “Holly Hill to Harleyville reach”.
A “reach” is an additional section of an ongoing project. The newest addition is part of an effort that connects previously finished sections. The first was completed in 2008 and expands the flow of treated water south from Lake Marion.
“The water from this reach will be servicing some 25,000 people who live in the area,” said Sean McBride, the public affairs specialist for the Charleston District at the US Army Corps of Engineers.
“Once the reach has been installed this will be the water transmission line that will be tapped into for all the production at the Volvo plant, so this is going to be providing water for that economic boom as well,” McBride said.
The Lake Marion Regional Water System starts in Santee, and when the Dorchester Reach is completed there will be over 45 miles of completed pipeline.
Following this project, construction will begin on another section stretching further into Berkeley and Dorchester counties. The lines will head north for the Berkeley-Orangeburg reach. That section will tie in at Holly Hill and will complete a giant loop.
Source: The Gazette
