Lake Water Tests and Storm Prepping Continue After Sewage Overflow

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TEGA CAY, SC — Tega Cay is still leaning up after the City Manager says at least 100,000 gallons of sewage spilled into Lake Wylie Sunday night.

Heavy rainfall forced the waste water out of manhole covers sitting near the lake shore.

It’s a recurring problem with the 40-year-old system.

“I’ll never swim in this water,” said Anthony Busutti. “Would you? I don’t know, I don’t even let my kids swim in there.”

With Sunday downpours, pump trucks worked to prevent sewage overflow at the lift station outside his home. Across the lake, rain was causing manholes to spew sewage. 

“They need to fix the system,” said Busutti. “That’s what they need to do.”

Tega Cay purchased the treatment plant from Utilities Inc. in June 2014.

By that time, City Manager Charlie Funerburk says nearly a million gallons had spilled into the lake, and the city wanted to take matters into their own hands.

“Things were going well until about 8:00 last night,” said Funerburk. “We had a lot of flooding in areas of the city. It just overwhelmed the plants.”

The city sent crews to begin pumping the treatment systems four hours before the overflow, but they couldn’t keep up with the rainfall. 

“It’s very disheartening,” said Funerburk. “Obviously, Lake Wylie is one of our bigger amenities.”

Managing the mess does come at a cost. The City Manager estimates that two pump truck crews can cost anywhere from $250 to $300 an hour. A bill passed on to the customer.

Further, homeowners say property values are drowning with each spill.

When you own a house on the lake and sewage goes into the lake, you know the value’s depreciating,” said Busutti.

Tega Cay says to replace the sewage system could cost up to $12 million. Instead, the city says it can spend half of that to replace lines and fixed busted pipes. 

The city will submit construction plans to the Department of Health and Environmental Control for approval. Once that’s done, the City Manager says Tega Cay will bring out the project, and DHEC will give the city one year to complete it.

The city plans to pay for it with state grants from the EPA.

For now, the city dispersed disinfectants. There is still a no-swim advisory for the cove between Palmyra and Marquesas until further notice. 

The city collected water samples Monday and will continue collecting samples until there are no signs of sewage.