Activated sludge and clarifiers: wastewater treatment plants in South Carolina
59 plants · 48% of the state · 237 MGD reported by 57 plants
Klarifi identifies 59 publicly owned wastewater treatment plants with activated sludge and clarifiers in South Carolina, 48% of the 122 plants in the state (237 MGD reported by 57 plants). The largest is Metro Wastewater Treatment Plant in Columbia at 29.87 MGD.
Activated sludge is the standard mechanical process for cities: aeration basins where bacteria consume organic matter, followed by clarifiers that settle the biomass out. These plants are identified by their circular or rectangular clarifiers and by the suspended-growth process code, and they are the main market for blowers, diffusers, clarifier mechanisms and instrumentation.
The largest activated sludge plants in South Carolina
| # | Facility | City | Avg flow (MGD) | NPDES permit | Expires | Violations (3y) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Metro Wastewater Treatment Plant | Columbia | 29.87 | SC0020940 | May 2023 | 7 |
| 2 | Plum Island WWTP | Charleston | 27 | SC0021229 | Jul 2024 | 3 |
| 3 | North Charleston Sewer District WWTP Herbert Site | North Charleston | 15.89 | SC0024783 | Aug 2024 | 2 |
| 4 | Gsw&sa Schwartz Myrtle Beach & Bucksport Reg Wwtps | Conway | 14.9 | SC0037753 | Jul 2030 | 9 |
| 5 | Wcrsa Mauldin Road Wastewater Treatment Plant | Greenville | 12.8 | SC0041211 | Jun 2008 | 24 |
| 6 | City Of Florence Pee Dee River WWTP | Florence | 10.19 | SC0045462 | May 2031 | 5 |
| 7 | A. Manning Lynch Wastewater Treatment Facility | Spartanburg | 9.82 | SCG570017 | Dec 2030 | 2 |
| 8 | Sumter Pocataligo River WWTP | Sumter | 9.15 | SC0027707 | Mar 2026 | 49 |
| 9 | Lower Berkeley Wastewater Treatment Plant | Goose Creek | 8.6 | SC0046060 | Apr 2024 | 1 |
| 10 | East Rich Co Psd Gills Creek | Columbia | 8.28 | SC0038865 | May 2023 | 2 |
| 11 | Pelham WWTP | Greer | 8.2 | SC0033804 | Dec 2023 | 1 |
| 12 | Rifle Range Wastewater Treatment Facility | Mount Pleasant | 7.3 | SC0040771 | Apr 2030 | 0 |
| 13 | Bjw&sa Cherry Point WWTP | Ridgeland | 7.12 | SC0047279 | Oct 2029 | 1 |
| 14 | Dorchester Co Lower Dorchester WWTP | Dorchester | 6.7 | SC0038822 | Nov 2027 | 20 |
| 15 | Summerville WWTF | Summerville | 4.8 | SC0037541 | Nov 2024 | 7 |
| 16 | Wcrsa Gilder Creek | Mauldin | 4.8 | SC0040525 | Dec 2023 | 1 |
| 17 | Gsw&sa/george R Vereen WWTP | Conway | 4.75 | SC0041696 | Nov 2027 | 31 |
| 18 | Bjw&sa Port Royal Water Recl Fac | Port Royal | 4.44 | SC0048348 | Jan 2029 | 0 |
| 19 | Orangeburg WWTF | Orangeburg | 3.8 | SC0024481 | Sep 2020 | 0 |
| 20 | Generostee Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant | Anderson | 3.25 | SC0023752 | Mar 2024 | 1 |
| 21 | Hilton Head No 1 Psd Wastewater Treatment Plant | Hilton Head Island | 2.88 | SC0046191 | Dec 2025 | 17 |
| 22 | Gsw&sa/conway WWTP | Conway | 2.87 | SC0021733 | Mar 2028 | 29 |
| 23 | Bcw&sa Central Berkeley WWTP | Goose Creek | 2.78 | SC0039764 | Apr 2030 | 4 |
| 24 | Newberry Bush River WWTF | Newberry | 1.95 | SC0024490 | May 2027 | 2 |
| 25 | Camden WWTF | Camden | 1.67 | SC0021032 | Jun 2031 | 26 |
Contacts and project signals for every plant on this list
Klarifi adds verified decision-maker contacts, permit limits, discharge monitoring data and the capital projects planned in each city, filterable by technology, size and compliance record.
Other technologies in South Carolina
Activated sludge and clarifiers in other states
Activated sludge and clarifiers in South Carolina: questions
Sources and methodology
Flow, permit and violation figures come from the EPA's ICIS-NPDES discharge monitoring records. Population served comes from the Clean Watersheds Needs Survey 2022. Treatment structures are identified by Klarifi's review of aerial imagery, and capital improvement projects are extracted from published municipal budget documents. Violations are counted over the last three years of monitoring reports.
Data refreshed September 11, 2026.