July Water Quality Report | 2019

On July 22nd and 23rd, Congaree Riverkeeper collected our regular water quality samples from local rivers and streams. Two urban stream sites, Gills Creek and Smith Branch, showed elevated bacteria levels (above the state standard of 349). While there was some rain on the evening of the 23rd, these samples were collected earlier in the day, so it is unlikely that the exceedences were related to stormwater runoff. Other possible sources of bacteria may include wildlife, sewer overflows, illicit connections, failing septic systems, and nearby land disturbance and construction activities.

It is worth noting that two of our sites were also sampled by the Midlands Rivers Coalition on the morning of Wednesday the 24th, after approximately 1 inch of rainfall. While the Saluda River at Saluda Shoals site continued to show low bacteria levels, the Saluda at I-20 site, which is downstream of several tributaries, showed elevated bacteria levies after the rainfall. This helps emphasize something we've long said; that we often see elevated bacteria levies in the 24-48 hours after a significant rain event, especially below where urban streams discharge to the river. You can see the Midlands Rivers Coalition's weekly water quality results at HowsMySCRiver.org.