(123rf.com Image)

Greenville, South Carolina-based Metropolitan Sewer Subdistrict (MetroConnects) announced the start of infrastructure improvements within the historic Union Bleachery community, as part of its Clean Water Forward initiative. 

The critical infrastructure project is supported by a $4 million State and Tribal Assistance Grant approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee in 2023.

“The Union Bleachery area is an important part of our Greenville community,” said Michael Stansell, senior project manager at MetroConnects. “We’re excited to get to work rehabilitating and replacing these sewer lines to ensure the area’s wastewater infrastructure continues to serve them for years to come.”

One of the most critical aspects of Greenville’s aging infrastructure is buried underground. In pockets of Greenville County, pipes that were installed a century ago are still in use.

During the first phase of the project, MetroConnects teams will be replacing and relocating approximately 4,953 linear feet of gravity sewer lines and installing 27 new manholes in the area to correct the existing structural defects of the more than 100-year-old system.

The utility will abandon 8,615 linear feet of VCP or clay pipes and 120 manholes that have been in the ground since approximately 1906 when the first homes were constructed in the mill village.

The project will also rehabilitate 224 linear feet of a 15-inch sewer main with Cured-In-Place (CIPP) lining to prevent open cut construction across a waterway.

The Clean Water Forward initiative addresses aging wastewater infrastructure and sewer capacity issues in Greenville County along the mill crescent and aims to create a sustainable, well-maintained and reliable wastewater system.

Wastewater collection systems are already being replaced in Dunean Mill Village and Mills Mill Village. Judson Mill Village is scheduled to begin later this year.

Officials said replacement of these wastewater collection systems will support a healthy and safe community by eliminating health threats and environmental hazards from wastewater leaks and manhole overflows.

In addition, it will aid in removing excess rainwater from the wastewater system, keeping rates affordable and providing sustainable infrastructure for Greenville County’s future, the officials said.

Metropolitan Sewer Subdistrict, dba as MetroConnects, is a special purpose district established in 1969 by the S.C. State Legislature that provides wastewater collection services in Greenville County and transports approximately 20 million gallons of wastewater per day to Renewable Water Resources (ReWa) for treatment and disposal.

MetroConnects serves more than 104,000 customers in the unincorporated areas of Greenville County in addition to the city of Travelers Rest and operates and maintains more than 1,500 miles of wastewater collection lines.