April 24, 2018 – Charlotte Water (CLTWater) crews responded to a broken wastewater pipe near Oakdale Road, at the confluence of McIntyre Creek and Long Creek on April 23rd. Crews are working to estimate gallons that may have reached Long Creek, part of the Catawba River Watershed.
30″ Wastewater Pipe at the bank of Long Creek
A wastewater pipe was 50 feet from the creek bank, a fallen tee eroded the creek bank and caused the 30″ wastewater pipe to break, possibly due to Monday evening’s storm.
Charlotte Water is currently notifying downstream residents, mobilizing crews and resources to control the spill, and make repairs.
This spill does not affect drinking water.
Updates will follow with details as they are available.
What do Rome, the Indus Valley civilizations and Charlotte have in common? They were all cities that thrived due to the installation of water and wastewater infrastructure. Without clean water to drink and sanitation systems, people fell prey to disease.
Before Irwin and Sugar Creek wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) were built, Charlotte residents dumped raw sewage directly into nearby creeks and streams. These practices were the root cause of outbreaks of cholera, typhoid, infectious hepatitis, and polio. In 1924, Sugar Creek Wastewater treatment plant was built on Little Sugar Creek and began partial treatment of wastewater. In 1927, Sugar Creek WWTP was expanded and Irwin Creek WWTP was built, and both were the first modern-style plants in the state. They used the highly-effective activated sludge treatment process to remove nutrients and organic materials from the wastewater before it was put back into the creeks and streams.
Laboratory at Irwin Creek WWTP- 1920’s
This technology allowed for an increased quality of life for the residents of Charlotte, less polluted waterways and supported the consistent economic and population growth of the Charlotte region.
Many sectors of the economy are reliant upon water, and any disruption of water/wastewater services can cost businesses a significant amount of revenue. Since 1927, Sugar and Irwin WWTP’s have been treating wastewater 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and due to many plant expansions are now able to treat up to 20 and 15 million gallons, respectfully, of wastewater per day.
Protecting Charlotteans public health and waterways is something to celebrate. Sugar Creek and Irwin Creek Wastewater Treatment Plants do just that and are celebrating their 90th birthdays. When today’s Sugar Creek and Irwin Creek plants began construction in 1927, the plants were among the first modern-style plants in the state using the highly-effective activated sludge (microbiological) treatment process. The twin facilities — both located 6 miles outside the City limits at that time — were a modern marvel featured in the November 1928 edition of Public Works Magazine.
The activated sludge process removed nutrients and organic materials from the waterway. This development led to, arguably, the single most significant improvement in public health and environmental protection during the course of the century.
Irwin Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant- 1927
When they opened, both plants boasted a total treatment capacity of 6 million gallons per day (mgd) and an average flow of about half that amount.
Sugar & Irwin were not the original wastewater plants. In fact, Charlotte’s first recorded sewer system dates back to July 17, 1876, when a contract was awarded for the first sewer lines along Trade Street. In 1903, large sewer collection pipes (outfalls) were begun for the Sugar & Irwin creek basins. Sugar Creek WWTP has been at its existing site since 1924 and performed partial treatment of wastewater before it was put back into creeks and streams, but three years later, work began on new-and-improved plants utilizing activated sludge technology and fully treating the wastewater.
Sugar Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant – 1927
Fast forward to 2017, Sugar and Irwin Creek wastewater treatment plants are still serving the ever-growing population of Charlotte 24/7. Along with three other wastewater treatment plants, 80 million gallons of wastewater is treated daily.
Charlotte Water is actively repairing a 36” wastewater main that was broken by a tree after Monday evening’s storms. Staff estimates that 4.7 million gallons entered Mallard Creek just east of the intersection of N. Tryon St. and E. Mallard Creek Church Rd. where the break in the pipe was found Tuesday morning.
View of fallen tree across Mallard Creek. White discharge of wastewater can be seen in foreground.
The break was discovered when staff at the Mallard Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant observed unusually low levels of wastewater flow entering the plant and worked quickly to determine the cause of the low flows. Field crews found the broken pipe just after noon on Tuesday and began notifying downstream residents, mobilizing resources to control the spill and design a repair. Bypass pumping was put in place and the spill ceased by 8:15 pm Tuesday.
Broken pipe can be seen at left side of creek bank
“We detected the problem quickly, unfortunately it took us a few hours to find the spill location along Mallard Creek and control the discharge from the broken pipe,” says Deputy Director Ron Hargrove. “We have to estimate that the spill probably started during the storm or soon thereafter.”
The wastewater is currently being fed by bypass pumps back to the wastewater treatment plant, so the spill is contained at this time. Crews from Storm Water Services have assisted Charlotte Water and contractors with removing debris from the creek. Representatives from NC Department of Environmental Quality have been on site to observe operations. Charlotte Water staff has been monitoring work and bypass pumps around the clock. Charlotte Water estimates work to repair the 36” wastewater main will continue for the next 48-72 hours.
Pumps and temporary lines will carry wastewater from the end of the broken pipe overland to a nearby wastewater pipe so it can flow to the wastewater treatment plant during the repair
Charlotte Water maintains more than 4,300 miles of wastewater collection pipes across Mecklenburg County. Residents can report odors, unusual looking creeks or overflowing manholes by calling 311 anytime of day.
A conversation with Charlotte Water
document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function () {
const observer = new MutationObserver(() => {
document.querySelectorAll('.jetpack-instant-search__search-result-expanded__image').forEach(img => {
if (!img.hasAttribute('alt')) {
img.setAttribute('alt', '');
}
});
});
observer.observe(document.body, {
childList: true,
subtree: true
});
});
