Central Berkeley WWTP Flow Diversion
Berkeley County, SC
As one of South Carolina’s fastest-growing counties, Berkeley County has experienced a heightened demand for reliable water and sewer services. As a result, Berkeley County Water and Sanitation (BCWS) must continuously upgrade and modify the existing infrastructure to accommodate the new residential and commercial users calling Berkeley County home. The Lower Berkeley WWTP (LBWWTP) was designed to provide wastewater treatment for the lower portion of the County, including the areas of Goose Creek, Hanahan, and Sangaree. As new developments came online in the heart of Berkeley County, LBWWTP began reaching its maximum capacity for treatment. To alleviate the stress on the facility, BCWS sought to establish a flow diversion to the Central Berkeley WWTP (CBWWTP) located in Moncks Corner.
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BCWS retained Thomas & Hutton for the design and planning of the Central Berkeley WWTP Flow Diversion project. The purpose of the project was to improve wastewater conveyance for users within the Cane Bay, Pine Hill, and Wildcat Tract developments. These areas constitute the largest and fastest-growing portion of Berkeley County, with buildout to exceed 15,000 homes, along with schools and associated mixed-use retail and commercial. The CBWWTP project also served to alleviate the potential for maxing out the treatment capacity of the LBWWTP by diverting flows from the above-referenced areas to the CBWWTP. The phased project involved redirecting discharge beginning from the BCWS Pump Station #151 to the newly designed BCWS Pump Station #161, and onto the CBWWTP. Thomas & Hutton created a wastewater master plan to guide the implementation of the phased project to serve the above-referenced and surrounding areas for the next 30 years. This included an analysis and selection of pump station and route locations and subsequent design of all associated infrastructure.
With the intention of maintaining existing service to areas north of Cane Bay, Thomas & Hutton’s master plan employed PS 151 and the 16-inch force main to provisionally handle wastewater for Pine Hill and Wildcat. Phase 2 involved the design of a new dual 18-inch force main, a regional pump station (PS 161), and an associated 24-inch force main that would be the ultimate conveyance route to CBWWTP, servicing the above-referenced developments. A flow diversion occurred at the end of Phase 2, reversing flow from PS 151, through the 16-inch force main. Wastewater is conveyed through the approximately 11,000-linear-foot southern leg of the dual 18-inch force main to the new regional pump station, PS 161. The northern leg of the dual 18-inch force main conveys flow from pump stations within Pine Hill and Wildcat to PS 161, which conveys wastewater to CBWWTP via 14,700 feet of 24-inch force main. PS 161 has a peak flow capacity of 7,800 GPM, with discharge rates automatically adjusted during non-peak times using variable frequency drives to control pump motor speed.
Central Berkeley WWTP Flow Diversion received a 2021 APWA South Carolina Project of the Year Award.
