by Don Moniak
April 5, 2024

The City of Aiken derives approximately 25 percent of its drinking water supply from a shallow, narrow, and slow-moving stream called Shaw Creek (1). The City has a permit from SC DHEC to withdraw up to eight million gallons of water per day from the creek. The water is then treated to meet safe water standards at a 70-year old treatment plant that is only capable of processing about 5.5 of the 8.0 million gallons permitted by the state.

A well-needed, new water treatment plant with a price tag of $71 million is being designed to process the permitted 8.0 million gallons.

A proposed House of Raeford chicken slaughterhouse and processing plant is expected to use ~1.1 million gallons per day; which is 20 percent of the existing capacity of 5.5 million gallons per day, and 45 percent of the 2.5 millions gallons of added capacity expected of the new $71 million plant.

Aiken’s Surface Water Supply

Shaw Creek is the largest tributary (Figure 1) of the South Fork of the Edisto River. The creek originates north of Trenton and flows more than twenty-five miles to its confluence with the South Fork.

Shaw Creek’s floodplain width ranges from 500-2000 feet, but its main channel only ranges from 10-20 feet wide and 7-10 feet deep. Stream flow measurements taken in the past two years indicate a median flow of approximately 65 cubic feet per second.

This small creek is the City of Aiken’s only surface water source; accounting for an average of 25 percent of the City’s total drinking water needs (2).

The flow of other municipal surface water sources in this region dwarfs that of Shaw Creek. As the table below shows, Aiken withdraws a considerable, even disproportionate, amount of its available surface water source compared to other municipal water systems.

For example, the median flow rate where the City of West Columbia withdraws water from the Saluda River is more than thirty times that found in Shaw Creek. Yet, West Columbia withdraws less water from the relatively mighty Saluda River than Aiken withdraws from Shaw Creek.

This comparison is important because West Columbia provides copious amounts of this water—as well as water from Lake Murray— to the old, water-intensive House of Raeford chicken slaughterhouse and processing plant situated in West Columbia above the Congaree River; across and usually upwind from the City of Columbia.

The City of Aiken proposes to provide similar amounts of water from its system to a new, but still water-intensive, House of Raeford chicken plant; which the company clearly intends as a replacement for the its embattled West Columbia plant.

According to city officials, the proposed new plant, to be located along the East Frontage Road near Exit 22 of Interstate 20, will use at least an estimated 1.1 million gallons per day—approximately twenty percent of the City’s surface water processing capacity.

Aiken’s Shaw Creek Water Plant

The City of Aiken withdraws Shaw Creek water at its 70-year old water treatment plant (Figure 2), where it is treated to meet drinking water standards. The plant, which sits a few miles north of town along Hwy 1 North, is permitted to withdraw up to 8.0 million gallons of Shaw Creek water per day by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Quality (SC DHEC).

The plant, however, is only capable of withdrawing and processing about two-thirds of its permitted use, around 5.5 million gallons per day (MGD). The major limitation is a water intake system that a 2019 Preliminary Engineering Report, that was commissioned by the City, described as being fraught with problems:

“The existing dam structure in Shaw’s Creek has resulted in a sediment trap that must be dredged annually. This causes a reduction in the amount of water that can be successfully withdrawn from  Shaw’s Creek, especially in the driest months of the year. Based on the Surface Water Allocation Model provided by SCDHEC, Shaw’s Creek has a 99.998% probability of yielding 8 MGD, however, the existing intake structure failure does not allow for a withdrawal rate of 8 MGD. “

During an August 12, 2019 study presentation to Aiken City Council, the consulting engineers from Goodwyn, Mills, and Caewood explained that:

“Today we are getting about 5.5 MGD. That is due to several reasons, with the biggest reason being the intake structure is dated. The treatment technology at the plant is (also) dated which leads to some energy inefficiencies.”

The $71 Million New Water Plant.

The consulting engineers recommended (3) constructing a new water treatment plant with a new intake structure; one capable of withdrawing and treating the permitted 8.0 MGD. While there are numerous benefits from building a new facility—i.e. a modern treatment system, energy efficiency, and increased reliability—the added processing capacity will only be ~2.5 MGD.

The preliminary plant cost estimate was $40.1 million. At the time, City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh recommended pursuing funds through Aiken County’s 2024 Capital Project Sales Tax referendum.

Between August 2019 and November 2023, the cost estimate rose to $71 million; which was probably too much to pursue from the sales tax. Instead, the funding for this major project will derive from three sources:

• A $10 million grant that the South Carolina’s Joint Bond Review Committee was allocated in March 2023 from the state’s portion of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds—the COVID-19 relief bill opposed by most county officials. 
• Up to $61 million in Water and Sewer Revenue Bonds. The issuance of bonds was approved by Aiken City Council by ordinance on November 27, 2023. 
• Up to a $27 million, low-interest loan from the S.C. Water Quality Revolving Fund; approved by a resolution of City Council on December 11, 2023. (The availability and size of the loan will determine the size of the bond issuance—which could be anywhere from $34-$61 million.) 

If the House of Raeford chicken slaughterhouse and processing plant does consume 1.1 MGD of Shaw Creek water, that would account for close to half, or 44 percent, of the added capacity of the $71 million plant.

”Plenty of Water”

Despite these water supply realities, a March 27, 2024, Aiken Standard story, headlined “Utilities Director Says There is Plenty of Water,” began with the misleading, editorializing statement that:

“Aiken residents concerned that new development is going to cause the city to run short of water may not have anything to worry about. ”

The story was based on comments (4) made by Aiken Engineering and Utilities Director Mike Przbylowicz during Aiken City Council’s March 25, 2024, public meeting, during which he twice made the imprecise statement that Aiken has plenty of water.

During his comments to Council, Mr. Pryzbylowicz cited three data points related to surface water: 8.0 MGD of permitted use from Shaw Creek; 4.0 MGD of average Shaw Creek Plant drinking water production; and a 12.0 MGD flow rate. The latter was not qualified as a median, mean, or high or low-flow, but does appear to represent a low-flow data point.

While his statements were made in the context of the expected residential housing boom on the Northside of Aiken, where access to City water has been approved for more than 2500 new housing units since early 2022, the Standard chose to extrapolate the limited data set to also conclude that there is plenty of water for the water-intensive chicken plant.

In reality, the City of Aiken’s water supply that supports the northern portion of its sewer and water service area is a very finite source with minimal potential for expansion. The City draws surface water from a small, arguably over-utilized creek with predictably low flow rates (Figure 4).

Under the current plans, the House of Raeford plant could withdraw nearly half of the added capacity of the planned new $71 million water plant. That is plenty of water for chickens, but not so much for people.

Footnotes

(1) Shaw Creek is alternately called Shaws Creek and Shaw’s Creek. Since the official DHEC watershed atlas, as well as the USGS water monitoring system, label it as Shaw Creek, that is the name used here.

(2) The remainder of the drinking water supply derives from groundwater wells. All of the Southside water produced at the Town Creek Road treatment facility is drawn from groundwater wells.

Only one groundwater well, Shiloh Springs, is on the northern side of the city’s water and sewer district. Located just north of I-20 near Gregory Road, the well experienced problems with high radium levels in the early 2010s that required an expensive Radium Reduction program; a fact that might make that water unattractive for a food processing plant.

(3) Alternatives included no new water plant and switching to a groundwater-only option. However, that recommendation was dismissed because:

“Due to a lack of quality aquifer and groundwater contamination in the northern portion of the City, groundwater would have to be pumped from the southern side of the City. This option will result in total reliance on one water source.”

(4) Transcription of City of Aiken Engineering and Utilities Director Mike Przbylowicz statements of 3/25/24, (edited for clarity by removing pauses and double wording).

“About the water issues that Mr Myers raised as far as water I mean the water plant is pulling out five million gallons a day. We are permitted for eight (million gallons per day). The last USGS study we had, the Creek is running about 12.7 million a day. So right now there is plenty of water. 

We did have USGS do a well study on some of the wells in that vicinity and what they consider we’re still in Young Water, in other words the aquifer is is at certain depth and we’re still in that high water mark so they consider it young water. 

We’re not deep into the water , we don’t pull it down out from the bottom, there’s plenty of water in the aquifers and there are studies from USGS that we had done just for the water plant for growth in the north side and for growth on the east side. 

As far as our water usage, we are at about 70% for permitted amount. Looking at future growth and we’re at about 40 % on our groundwater usage.  70% is for what is taken below ground, or below surface. 

And the surface waters we’re using are about 40% of the permitted surface water usage. 

So as far as water we have a recent model we had done in 2020, uh 2022, and we had it updated again in 2023. As far as what uh our consultant said in USGS said, You don’t see a water issue. The new water plant will produce will be able to produce 8 million a day and that’s what our permit is for. “