Construction of a new drinking water well for Hilton Head Public Service District (PSD) at the site of the Old Welcome Center on William Hilton Parkway is getting underway. Drivers are asked to use caution in the vicinity of the construction due to construction vehicles entering and exiting the site. The work is anticipated to conclude by fall 2025, weather permitting.
The well will be drilled approximately 600 feet deep into the brackish Middle Floridan Aquifer. It will allow the PSD to increase the treatment capacity in its Reverse Osmosis (RO) Drinking Water Treatment Facility on Jenkins Island, from 4 million gallons a day (mgd) of drinking water to 6 mgd. The increased capacity will represent the average day’s demand for drinking water in the PSD service area. RO treatment is a leading method for producing high-quality drinking water. The PSD’s RO plant has been in service since 2009. The project is necessary to ensure the island’s long-term water supply in the face of ongoing saltwater intrusion into the shallower Upper Floridan Aquifer, which had been the island’s traditional source of drinking water. The PSD has lost 10 of its 14 wells into the Upper Floridan Aquifer to saltwater intrusion since 2000.
The project is being funded in part by a $10-million grant from the South Carolina Infrastructure Improvement Program. It also includes constructing a second Aquifer Storage & Recovery (ASR) well for the PSD. ASR is a supply technique that allows more than 250 million gallons of treated drinking water to be stored in the Middle Floridan Aquifer during winter months of low demand and then withdrawn and retreated for distribution during the spring and summer months of higher demand. It is a key asset to help speed recovery from natural disasters such as hurricanes. The ASR well will be constructed on the Ashmore Tract. Both the new drinking water well for the RO plant and the ASR well are being constructed on land provided by the Town of Hilton Head Island. The project also includes constructing pipelines to convey the water from the wells into the PSD’s water distribution system.
“We are excited to begin construction of these vital, long-term drinking water supply projects,” said PSD General Manager Pete Nardi. “The work we do today will help ensure high-quality drinking water for generations of islanders to come. We are grateful for the support of our customers, our elected Board of Commissioners, and the Town of Hilton Head Island in bringing these critical projects to life.”
