$64M Joint Wastewater Treatment Facility in Pendleton on Schedule
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
The new Pendleton/Clemson/Anderson County Wastewater Treatment Plant now under construction on Woodburn Road near Eighteen Mile Creek is expected to provide capacity to meet the needs of growth for the area for at least the next decade.
The $64 million project could have a profound impact on the area and facilitate both commercial/industrial economic development and residential growth. The county, and the Pendleton area in particular, have witnessed exponential growth in the past decade, growth which shows no signs of slowing, and Clemson expects their population to double in the next decade.
The new facility is expected to offer state-of-the-art technology, improving reliability and operational efficiency for the next 10 years and beyond. The work is on schedule and expected to be complete by August of 2026.
The project is a significant example of successful intergovernmental cooperation between the Town of Pendleton, the City of Clemson, and Anderson County to address a shared regional need.
An authority is being put together where the three will have equal votes in managing the new plant.
“This is a wonderful cooperative effort between Pendleton, Clemson and Anderson County and is going to be a tremendous benefit to all parties involved,” said Anderson County Administrator Rusty Burns.
Pendleton Mayor Frank Crenshaw said the new treatment facility is crucial to the future of the area.
"It’s necessary because we're bumping the limits of what the plant can do now,” said Crenshaw. “For it to be able to permit anything that is new - construction, new business, whatever - we've got to have capacity to allocate and permit them. It's got to be there if we're going to keep doing that. You're seeing people coming here all the time and opening new businesses and building houses. So, it's an absolute necessity."
The facility will be run by the private company ClearWater Solutions, which offers a comprehensive menu of services that includes management, operations, and maintenance services for water and wastewater treatment across the Southeast.
“We operate wastewater and water systems from sewer plants, water treatment plants, distribution and collection systems,” said Maverick Olaes of ClearWater Solutions.
Crenshaw said allowing ClearWater to run the plant makes sense for the community.
“It's just economies of scale,” said Crenshaw. “They do it all over the place, so they've got the people in place. And if we did it here, we'd have to pay front-end costs before we ever started hiring people. So sometimes it saves the taxpayer money, and it makes it easier for us to budget because we got a fixed amount.”
The new facility will increase in treatment capacity from the current 2.0 Million Gallons per Day (MGD) (operating under a 3.0 MGD flow advancement agreement) to 5.0 MGD initially, with the potential to expand to at least 7.5 MGD using the latest treatment process. This will alleviate current overcapacity issues.
When a plant is described as having a "3.0 MGD capacity," it means it is designed and permitted to treat up to three million gallons of wastewater per day. Average daily flow represents the gallons of wastewater that arrive at the plant each day for treatment. Peak daily flow is what happens during a heavy rain event, indicating that the plant temporarily handles more than its average.
The new treatment facility will also offer expanded environmental protections using an advanced form of the activated sludge approach known as the A2O (stands for Anaerobic-Anoxic-Oxic) process. This is considered an effective and widely used biological wastewater treatment method, particularly designed for the efficient removal of organic matter, nitrogen, and phosphorus from wastewater. This process is widely used and highly effective as a biological method for treating wastewater (both municipal sewage and industrial wastewater) and is a key component of secondary wastewater treatment, focusing on removing biodegradable organic matter, suspended solids, and nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus.
This new process will allow for greater expansion within the existing footprint.
The total anticipated cost of the plant upgrade and expansion has a guaranteed maximum price of around $64 million. The costs are shared among the three partnering governments based on their percentage of new capacity gained:
Anderson County is responsible for $21,705,816; the City of Clemson $16,701,405, and Pendleton $11,686,976.
The South Carolina Infrastructure Investment Program (SCIIP) Grant is providing $10,000,000, as part of a statewide program that utilizes federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for water, sewer, and stormwater infrastructure improvements.
An additional $5,300,000 was secured through congressionally designated funding. Local Contributions (Impact Fees and Bonds) will provide the remaining approximately $45 million.
The City of Clemson is using a mix of Impact Fee money (paid by new construction to offset growth-related expenses) and bonds to pay for its share.
Anderson County Council voted in June 2024 to provide for the issuance and sale of sewer system revenue bonds up to $25,000,000 to help finance improvements.
All three partners are seeking additional state and federal funding for the project.
