‘It was fine’: City of Myrtle Beach receives good news following sewer main failure

The City of Myrtle Beach received good news on ocean water quality Monday: The Atlantic was not infiltrated by sewage following a sewer main failure the day before.

Coastal Carolina University staff members and South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) employees conducted tests for sewage in the ocean following a 24-inch sewer force main failed Sunday on Boundary Street, which flows into Withers Swash, and the results came back negative.

“We got the ocean water quality tests back last night right before 6 and it was fine,” City of Myrtle Beach Public Information Officer Mark Kruea said Tuesday.

The city estimated 15,000 gallons of sewage made its way into a ditch that connects to the swash on Sunday and placed precautionary signs advising of the spill at the site and at Wither Swash, which is near Third Avenue South, on Sunday, Kruea said.

The 1-foot break in the main was reported at 8:30 a.m. Sunday and was quickly shut down, Kruea said. The area where the failure happened is about 200 feet west of the Fifth Avenue South pump station, the city reported.

Myrtle Beach Public Works immediately notified the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) of the spill, Kruea said, and crews used a Vactor truck to remove remaining sewage from the ditch, though there was still some worry that some might have made its way to the swash.

However, all was clear by Monday evening.

“The test results came back yesterday and they were very good out of the ocean,” Kruea said.