Several waterways around the Charleston area continue to have high levels of dangerous bacteria since the Charleston City Paper first reported on the matter in October 2022. But recent storms seems to be making things worse temporarily, analysts say.
Filbin Creek, located near a decades-old and now-closed paper mill in North Charleston, for example, consistently delivers readings for Charleston Waterkeeper’s Swim Alert project more than twice over the state’s water quality standard — about 104 bacterial colony forming units (cfu) per 100 mL of water. In the wake of the recent storms, it spiked to more than 150 times over the standard.
Across town, Hurricane Debby’s romp through the Lowcountry delivered a reading at James Island Creek of more than 240 times over the state standard.
The main culprit: enterococcus (or fecal) bacteria, which can cause gastrointestinal illness, eye and ear infections, skin rashes and worse when levels get dangerously high. The risks are exacerbated if someone accidentally ingests the contaminated water.
“Stormwater is just gross,” said Cheryl Carmack, a water quality specialist for Charleston Waterkeeper. “It’s so disgusting, and often when we have these big storms, sewers overflow as well, and we see issues with that.
“Generally what we see when we start the season in May, the water is a little cooler, and we don’t see a lot of bacteria,” Carmack said. “But as the water warms in the summer, we see those levels come up, and now, this time of year, water starts cooling down, and we expect those levels to go down, but we end up getting these spikes with rain.”
It can take weeks for levels to come back down after a heavy storm like Hurricane Debby or Helene, which is likely to cause spikes in bacteria levels this week as polluted runoff enters the Lowcountry.
Results otherwise unchanged
When skies clear and stormwater runoff eventually clears from local rivers and creeks, the bacteria levels in most waterways hover between 10 and 100 cfu/100mL, well within safe standards for swimming.
At 20 separate testing sites operated by Charleston Waterkeeper from spring to fall, only four routinely fail pollution tests. Problem areas like Filbin Creek and parts of James Island Creek, Shem Creek and Ashley River have remained above the safety threshold for years.
“I hate to say that because people want to see changes, but it just takes so long,” Carmack said. “I’ve been doing this for 12 years, and I want to see these numbers start to change more dramatically, too. … It’s hard to feel like there’s enough being done, but you just have to be patient.”
Increased industrial development and large-scale population growth has contributed to the slow pace of improvements, Adopt-A-Stream volunteer Rebecca Fanning noted in a 2023 report. Impervious surfaces like concrete and asphalt means that water now flows into streams, creeks and rivers, instead of being absorbed by soil, carrying with it everything from plastic waste to septic tank runoff.
Work ongoing, more coming
Some of the most impactful work that’s being done to address the water pollution in the Lowcountry is education, Carmack said.
“Educational campaigns make people more aware of the risk of dog waste, for example,” she said. “We have signs now posted around Shem Creek that have reminders, and they also show a person on a kayak to help people make that connection.”
Charleston Waterkeeper’s Swim Alert data has helped secure more than $1 million in state and local funding for clean up work in local creeks and rivers like James Island and Ellis creeks since 2013.
Since last year, the town James Island has begun the transition from a septic system to a sewer system, which can dramatically reduce the amount of bacteria that ends up in local waters. In Mount Pleasant, town-led efforts to clear out storm drains have also made a dent in the test results in parts of Shem Creek.
“It’s hard to feel like there’s enough being done, but you just have to be patient,” Carmack said. “Through this project, we’re able to get these sites listed as impaired, and once we do that, they can be prioritized, and that triggers action. It’s all such a slow process, but the numbers are changing.”
The Swim Alert project tests bacteria levels at 20 popular sites so residents know when and where it’s safe to go for a swim. Samples are collected and tested every Wednesday May through October. Testing results are published online at charlestonwaterkeeper.org/swimalert as soon as they are available.
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