Keep South Carolina Wild
July 01, 2024
Who is Renewable Water Resources (ReWa)?
ReWa is a wastewater utility that’s served the Upstate since 1925. ReWa cleans and releases 44 million gallons of water daily into area streams and rivers while serving Greenville County and portions of Anderson, Laurens, Pickens and Spartanburg counties. We have nine water resource recovery facilities and more than 430 miles of pipe.
As a WAIT partner, some of our many programs include:
Oyster shell recycling: Since 2017, ReWa has participated in the South Carolina Oyster Recycling and Enhancement (SCORE) program through the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR). ReWa accepts oyster shells recycled by the public on its Mauldin Road campus. Volunteers from ReWa and SCDNR also bring shells from restaurants to the bin. In 2023 and 2024, ReWa employees participated in oyster reef rebuilds with SCDNR staff on Edisto Island. Since 2023, ReWa has assisted in recycling approximately 66,000 pounds of oyster shells that have been returned to the coast. Recycled oyster shells reduce erosion along the state’s coast, provide habitat for aquatic life and lead to more oysters, which improve water quality through filtration.
Photos of oyster shell recycling are courtesy of ReWa.
‘ReWa Gives Back’: ReWa’s commitment to serving and investing in the community is reinforced by the ReWa Gives Back volunteer program. Employees are encouraged to volunteer four hours a year during normal work hours. This supports the community and helps ReWa’s employees better understand the communities we serve while improving the utility’s service. The program fosters a culture of responsibility, community service among employees, teamwork, employee engagement and opportunities for personal development.
Natural Resource projects/habitat: ReWa’s Mauldin Road Water Resource Recovery Facility is its largest property. It includes wetlands and floodplains for the Reedy River and one of its tributaries, Brushy Creek. The Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail runs through a portion of the property adjacent to the Reedy and it continues downstream into Conestee Nature Preserve. Habitat enhancement on this property includes duck boxes, bluebird boxes and wildlife viewing stations in the wetlands for birders and hikers to enjoy. ReWa has also undertaken streambank enhancement work along stretches of the Reedy River and Brushy Creek to reduce sediment transport.
Photos of habitat improvements and wildlife viewing station are courtesy of ReWa.
Reuse water: The water treated and released into the environment daily by ReWa is known as effluent. Each year, ReWa uses 3.6 million gallons of effluent for irrigation purposes at its facilities. The utility’s administration building and its Innovation Campus receive the most visitors among the utility’s properties and guests can see educational gardens that are irrigated by the utility’s effluent. ReWa also uses 700 million gallons of effluent per year during the water treatment process.
Litter Prevention: ReWa’s Bandalong™ Litter Trap is in a portion of Brushy Creek on the utility’s Mauldin Road campus. It’s designed to collect an average of 30,000 pounds of floating litter and debris each year to reduce pollution farther downstream. The trap does not affect the hydraulics of the water body, nor does it affect aquatic life or wildlife. ReWa has hosted an annual river sweep since 1998 in portions of the Reedy River and Brushy Creek that flow through the utility’s Mauldin Road campus. It is intended to be held in conjunction with the annual statewide South Carolina Beach Sweep/River Sweep, which is organized by the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium and SCDNR. In 2023, ReWa’s employees and volunteers removed 3,060 pounds of trash and debris from portions of the Reedy River and Brushy Creek.
Photo is courtesy of ReWa.
Photo of ReWa’s Bandalong™ Litter Trap is courtesy of ReWa.
Watershed & natural resources specialist: ReWa employs a watershed and natural resources specialist, who provides strategic and technical support for the utility’s environmental initiatives and programs related to watershed planning, water quality monitoring and land resource development.
To learn more about ReWa, visit rewaonline.org.
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