Charleston Pump Station Upgrade Aims to Mitigate East Side Flooding
– A recently completed upgrade to the Concord Street Pump Station in Charleston, South Carolina, is now fully operational, city officials announced today. The $10 million renovation is intended to improve the reliability of the system and reduce the risk of flooding in Charleston’s East Side, an area historically prone to inundation.
For residents and businesses on the East Side, flooding has long been a significant concern. The pump station, located near the South Carolina Aquarium, serves approximately 240 acres of the city and relies on a 30-foot-wide drainage pipe that descends 130 feet underground.
The original pump station was constructed in 2000 to address severe flooding issues that plagued the area. Matthew Fountain, Charleston’s director of stormwater management, recalled a time when Calhoun at East Bay would be “waist-deep in afternoon rainstorms.” He explained that the initial construction of the pump station and the accompanying deep tunnel significantly alleviated those problems.
Approximately a decade ago, the city expanded the system by extending a tunnel along Market Street and connecting it to the existing drainage network. Since then, increased development and infrastructure connections have placed greater demands on the pump station’s capacity. “We’ve added a lot more water coming into the station,” Fountain said. “So, we upped the flow rate on the existing pump station from about 120,000 gallons per minute to 140,000 gallons per minute.”
After roughly 25 years of operation, the system began to exhibit signs of wear and tear. “It was starting to have some reliability challenges, so we came back and upfitted it over the last two years,” Fountain stated. While the exterior of the building may not appear dramatically different, the majority of the work was completed underground.
The upgrade comes as Charleston continues to grapple with increasing flood risks. According to data from NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, the city experienced flooding for just two days a year, totaling roughly four hours, around 1950. By 2014, that number had risen to 25 days and over 40 hours of inundation. Projections indicate that high-tide flooding could occur up to 60 days per year by 2051, potentially exceeding 100 hours annually.
City leaders are also considering larger-scale flood protection projects, such as the Peninsula Perimeter Protection Project, a more than $1 billion plan to construct a nearly nine-mile-long, 12-foot-high storm surge wall around part of the city’s peninsula. This project would also include watertight gates, pump stations, and the elevation of dozens of structures.
The city’s Flooding and Sea Level Rise Strategy is now maintained as a dynamic online storymap, updated regularly to reflect ongoing projects and evolving conditions. This shift from a static document aims to keep citizens informed about the city’s efforts to address flooding and sea level rise.
