On November 15, 1934, in a special Town election, the following question was on the ballot: "Shall the Town of Mount Pleasant, Charleston County, South Carolina, construct and operate a system of water works, and issue self liquidating bonds of the Town of Mount Pleasant, to the amount of fifty-seven thousand ($57,000.00) Dollars…" Following the favorable vote by the citizens of Mount Pleasant (102 ballots in favor and no ballots against), an application was made to the State Public Works Administration (PWA) Board. The federal government (PWA) agreed to underwrite the $75,000 cost to construct a plant through a grant of $18,000 and by issuing $57,000 in bonds (bearing four percent interest).

In October 1935, the Commission began formal operation of a water distribution system from three wells (with a combined capacity of 160,000 gallons per day) with automatic electric pumps, one 100,000 gallon elevated storage tank (180' MSL) and one 300,000 gallon steel storage tank (17' MSL), which also served as an emergency supply for fire fighting. Two 500-gallon-per-minute pumps (one automatic electric, one gasoline) were installed in the brick pumping station building for fire service protection. The distribution system consisted of 5.8 miles of 2, 6 and 8-inch mains and 21 fire hydrants. At the end of 1935, a total of 179 water meters had been installed to serve the Town's population.

Wastewater System
The public wastewater system began operating in 1942 with a discharge to Charleston Harbor. Expansion took place as the town grew. In the early 1960's, the Commission contracted an engineering firm to design a wastewater collection system expansion under the PL 660 federal program. In 1969, construction began on the first primary treatment facility capable of processing 1.4 million gallons per day (mgd). The facility and collection system were completed and operations started in June of 1970. This facility was a contact stabilization secondary treatment plant and the first form of wastewater treatment in Mount Pleasant.

In 1976 under PL 92-500 EPA federal grants program, the facility was expanded from 1.4 MGD to 3.7 MGD with the addition of flow equalization and converting to conventional activated sludge treatment process. At the same time, four small package plants were taken out of service and flow from these plants was diverted to the expanded Center Street Wastewater Treatment Facility. At the completion of the expansion to the plant in 1984, this facility was not to be expanded beyond its present capacity; therefore the master plan was developed at the request of the Commissioners. The Commission purchased 40 acres of land on which future facilities would be built. In 1986, the Commission saw growth starting to take place outside the existing town limits and beyond the sewer service area. In order to stop the proliferation of sewer package treatment plans and to protect the environment, the Commission requested and received from the State of South Carolina the service area expanding to the Wando and Santee rivers.

An outfall line was constructed in 1989, which has an assimilative capacity of 90 MGD. All MPW's treated wastewater is discharged through the outfall line 4,700 feet into Charleston Harbor in the Rebellion Reach Channel for maximum dilution.

A second wastewater treatment plant at Rifle Range Road began operations in May 1994, adding 2.4 MGD treatment capacity to the Commission's system. This plant also made it possible to eliminate the remaining discharges in the Mount Pleasant service area and serve 1,000 residents previously on septic tanks. The plant's aeration system achieves a higher level of treatment than required by the Clean Water Act and the Department of Health and Environmental Control's discharge permit.

A water reuse system was incorporated to minimize the need for potable water in plant operations. The Rifle Range Road plant is equipped with the first East Cooper septage receiving station, which will process waste from septic tank trucks, portable toilets and travel trailers. All features promote a safer, cleaner water environment.

See Environmental Commitment for additional information.

Bits and Pieces of Historic Fact
The office of the newly formed public utility was located at 101 Pitt Street in the rear of the building (the entrance fronted on Venning Street). Mount Pleasant Waterworks was headquartered in this space until it moved to Town Hall on Royall Avenue. In 1970, headquarters were moved to a new office on Center Street in front of the wastewater treatment plant. Following hurricane Hugo in October 1989, the office was temporarily relocated to the Corporate Center on Coleman Boulevard. The administrative office was relocated to the old Town of Mount Pleasant Post Office at 1250 Fairmont Avenue from April 1991 through February 1997. Staff moved into its current location at the Operations Center, 1619 Rifle Range Road, in March 1997. The Operations Center houses all staff except for personnel at the laboratory and wastewater treatment plant at Center Street.

First Commissioners of Mount Pleasant Waterworks--1935

• Captain Samuel A. Guilds, Chairman
• W. J. Knox
• W. W. McIver

Managers:
1935 - 1969: C. Boyd Venning
1969 - 1971: Houston Northcutt
1971 - 1974: Jim Faulkner
1975 - 1989: Ronald E. Bycroft
1989 - Present: Clay Duffie

An Old Safe
Mount Pleasant owned an old safe (c.1850) that was given on loan in 1997 to Lou Edens of the Guilds Inn (bed and breakfast in the Old Village), the original building that MPW occupied in 1935 until it relocated to Town Hall.

C. Boyd Venning purchased the safe from Cotton Brokerage Company in downtown Charleston in the late 1930's. In September 1989, Hurricane Hugo's 11 ft. tidal surge in Mount Pleasant inundated the Mount Pleasant Waterworks Center Street office with five feet of floodwater. For over a century, the reliable old safe had proven itself to be fireproof and burglarproof, but alas, it could not survive the incoming tide. Its long and faithful life seemed to end by drowning, but Waterworks employee Don Moore came to its rescue. Mr. Moore supervised the restoration of the safe by S. C. Prison Industries. The safe was returned to service in 1990.

And the safe story continues...
July 2002, Lou Edens negotiated the sale of Guilds Inn and Mount Pleasant Waterworks decided it was time to relocate the safe to our Operations Center on Rifle Range Road. It now resides in our lobby and serves as a reminder of how times change. The elaborate decoration predates the "form follows function" movement in American design. Attention to detail, an appreciation of art for art's sake, and pride in workmanship were hallmarks in an era when craftsmen left their marks for subsequent generations to admire and enjoy.

One wonders if nineteenth-century artists decorated the innermost recesses of the safe with inlaid wood, birdseye maple and bouquets of flowers to ensure that the face of each U. S. president trapped inside the dark cubby holes could gaze upon something beautiful.