Sewer line break near Mary C. Canty Recreation Center

Myrtle Beach Public Works crews repaired a 24-inch sewer main beneath Canal Street where a leak occurred, Monday morning.  The break was discovered around 9:30 a.m. near Mary C. Canty Recreation Center.  

As a precaution, water quality tests were collected.  The tests results are good, according to South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.  The swimming advisory for the City of Myrtle Beach has been lifted.  The rupture happened at the top of an older ductile iron pipe, which has been in service for 30-plus years. 

The pipe wall thinned over time due to age and corrosive gases, and it’s thought that today’s heavier-than-normal flow volumes may have caused the pipe to break.  Estimates are that 105,000 gallons escaped before the leak was discovered and halted, although much of that was contained and collected.