City of Columbia’s sewer spills down from years past

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IRMO, S.C. (WOLO) — Tuesday’s sewer overflow notice from the City of Columbia wasn’t anything residents aren’t used to seeing. This one, originally warning some homeowners behind Irmo High School. After assessing the problem, officials tell ABC Columbia, there is nothing to worry about. City of Columbia wastewater engineer Bill Davis says a corroded storm drain caused a pipe to break. “So we just quickly dug it up- it wasn’t even a 10 foot by 10 foot area- got down there, and found the problem very quickly,” he says. They say they were able to contain the leak. Though, it raises questions about the problem of spills in Columbia. Last year, there were more than 1.6 million gallons of sewage spilled. That was from 134 spills. “We have a number of sewer utilities in the Midlands who have sewer spills,” Congaree Riverkeeper Bill Stangler says. “Far and away the worst was the city of Columbia.” Stangler compiles the data reported to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. He says so far this year, the city has had 77 spills, totaling about 370-thousand gallons. “It’s certainly down from previous numbers, but we want that number to be zero,” he says. The Saluda River, downstream from Tuesday’s spill, was spared this time, but it’s one of three rivers flowing through the region that really feels these spills. “This is where lots of people go trout fishing go kayaking, go tubing,” Spangler says. “So it’s a real concern for the people who come to our region and or city to enjoy the three rivers.” The city says it has a 750-million dollar plan that will span the course of at least eight years. There are 1,100 miles of pipe in the city’s sewer system. “That’s a lot of pipe, and you can’t do it all at once, and you can’t do it all in one year,” says Davis.