Metropolitan Sewer Subdistrict (MetroConnects) announces the start of infrastructure improvements within the historic Union Bleachery community, as part of its Clean Water Forward initiative.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on May 5, 2025, to celebrate improvements in Union Bleachery Mill Village. This critical infrastructure project is supported by a $4 million State and Tribal Assistance Grant approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee in 2023. MetroConnects is grateful for Sen. Lindsey Graham’s commitment to funding wastewater improvement projects that are transformative for Greenville County residents.
“The Union Bleachery area is an important part of our Greenville community,” said Michael Stansell, senior project manager at MetroConnects. “We’re excited to get to work rehabilitating and replacing these sewer lines to ensure the area’s wastewater infrastructure continues to serve them for years to come.”
One of the most critical aspects of Greenville’s aging infrastructure is buried underground. Out of sight, and usually out of mind, people are only reminded of the importance of wastewater systems when they fail. In pockets of Greenville County, pipes that were installed a century ago are still in use today. During the first phase of the project, MetroConnects teams will be replacing and relocating approximately 4,953 linear feet of gravity sewer lines and installing 27 new manholes in the area to correct the existing structural defects of the more than 100-year-old system. The utility will abandon 8,615 linear feet of VCP or clay pipes and 120 manholes that have been in the ground since approximately 1906, when the first homes were constructed in the mill village. The project will also rehabilitate 224 linear feet of a 15-inch sewer main with Cured-In-Place (CIPP) lining to prevent open-cut construction across a waterway.
The Clean Water Forward initiative addresses aging wastewater infrastructure and sewer capacity issues in Greenville County along the mill crescent to create a sustainable, well-maintained, and reliable wastewater system. Wastewater collection systems are already being replaced in Dunean Mill Village and Mills Mill Village. Judson Mill Village is scheduled to begin later this year.
The replacement of these wastewater collection systems will support a healthy and safe community by eliminating health threats and environmental hazards from wastewater leaks and manhole overflows. In addition, these improvements will aid in removing excess rainwater from the wastewater system, keeping rates affordable and providing sustainable infrastructure for Greenville County’s future.