LONGS WWTP - Horry County, South Carolina Wastewater Treatment Plant

LONGS WWTP is a municipal wastewater treatment facility located in Horry County, South Carolina, serving a population of approximately 1,300 residents. The plant provides secondary treatment, a standard level for smaller communities in the United States, and discharges an average of 757.08 cubic meters of treated effluent per day. As a secondary treatment plant, LONGS WWTP utilizes biological processes to reduce organic matter and suspended solids, meeting the requirements of the US Clean Water Act. For plants of this scale in South Carolina, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) typically issues National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits, which set effluent limits and monitoring requirements to protect water quality. The treated wastewater from LONGS WWTP is discharged into a local waterway that ultimately drains into the Atlantic Ocean via the Intracoastal Waterway or the Waccamaw River basin. The region's coastal plain and proximity to sensitive estuarine environments necessitate careful management of nutrient and pathogen levels to safeguard downstream aquatic ecosystems.

The plant's discharge enters a network of tidal creeks and rivers within the Waccamaw River watershed, which flows into Winyah Bay and then the Atlantic Ocean. This coastal plain region supports diverse aquatic habitats, including freshwater wetlands and estuarine zones that are critical for fish spawning and migratory birds. The secondary treatment process helps reduce organic loading and suspended solids, but nutrient removal may be limited, making the plant's effluent a potential contributor to local nutrient levels in sensitive downstream waters.