North Myrtle Beach excess water usage created ‘public safety issue.’ What does that mean?
North Myrtle Beach’s excess usage of Myrtle Beach’s water transmission system led to significant concerns of low water pressure and flows, according to a local engineer.
That potential “public safety issue” preceded Myrtle Beach’s recent lawsuit filed against its northern neighbors for breach of contract, alleging North Myrtle Beach exceeded its allowable usage of the water lines without helping to fund needed maintenance and improvements to the system.
Myrtle Beach’s complaint noted that engineering firms warned that the condition of the system poses a “risk to public safety,” but it didn’t elaborate on that risk, and city officials declined to comment due to the ongoing litigation. A North Myrtle Beach spokeswoman also declined to comment, though Mayor Marilyn Hatley did previously tell The Sun News she was confident North Myrtle Beach officials would “do what’s right” in relation to the dispute.
Myrtle Beach released an Aug. 2022 letter from engineer Eric Sanford, of Bolton and Menk, Inc., in response to a Sun News Freedom of Information Act request for documentation showing an engineer’s most recent evaluation of the city’s water transmission system.
Sanford, who did not immediately respond to a voicemail message from a Sun News reporter, wrote that the water transmission line heading north from the Myrtle Beach Water Treatment Plant had reached it capacity to handle peak hourly flows. The velocities within that line are “extremely high” and occurring 8-12 hours per day, he added.
“Because of this condition, you are going to experience low tank levels and low water pressures in the north end of the Myrtle Beach’s water service area,” Sanford wrote. “This condition may constitute a public safety issue because of low pressures and flows.”
He recommended the city consider adding a parallel water line to keep up with North Myrtle Beach’s growing demands.
A contractor began work last August on a new waterline in Myrtle Beach along Old Bryan Drive, but it’s unclear if this project is meant to fully address the issues referenced in this letter. The new waterline, which is funded by a South Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority grant, is part one of a four-phase project, according to city officials.
