FORT MILL, S.C. — York County is in the middle of one of its largest sewer line projects in years. It's in the process of clearing the way to put in seven miles of new sewage pipes.
The project’s manager, Barry McKinnon, says rapid growth in Fort Mill makes updating the sewage pipes a necessity. In a decade, Fort Mill’s population grew by 77% to more than 24,000 people in 2020.
“There’s so much commercial, residential, industrial growth going on over here," said McKinnon. "You want to try to keep ahead of that.”
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The new, 30-inch pipes will be double the area of the current pipes. They'll serve 20,000 homes and businesses throughout the city. The new sewer line will take around two years to complete. The project costs $26 million and is funded directly by monthly water and sewer bills residents already pay.
“We think this will last us at least the next 25-30 years," said McKinnon, who also shared it would be costlier not to upgrade.
“Eventually, you’ll start having pipe failures," he said, "so you’ll have raw sewage spilling on the ground, usually that’ll run into a creek, so that’s going to end up in a river.”
McKinnon says while the project may be delayed because of supply shortages and delays, he doesn’t expect residents to see service disruptions.
Contact Indira Eskieva at ieskieva@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.