The River Pumping Station transports 75% of the sewage of Hillsborough's customers to the Wastewater Treatment Plant.

It was built in the 1970s near the Eno River by the Wastewater Treatment Plant on Elizabeth Brady Road. The project would relocate the station to higher ground out of the Eno River's 500-year floodplain. 

The pumping station has a history of flooding in severe weather, including during Hurricane Fran in 1996 (right photo), a storm in 1998 (left photo), and Tropical Storm Chantal in 2025.

Flooding from Tropical Storm Chantal left the station's three pumps inoperable. The town used three bypass pumps through late December 2025 to prevent sewage spills while new pumps, motors, and electrical and control systems were purchased and installed. The station was restored to service in late December.

The estimated cost of the project is more than $10.2 million.

Grant Funding

The town received a Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant of $5.8 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in August 2023. As a part of the grant, the town would pay for 30% of the project.

In April 2025, the federal program was ended and all applications from fiscal years 2020-2023 were canceled. This affected Phase 2 of the River Pumping Station project, which would have used over $5.1 million in federal funds to build the new station.

North Carolina and 19 other states sued FEMA in July 2025 over its decision to cancel the BRIC program. In December 2025, a U.S. district court judge ruled the program was unlawfully ended. On March 18, 2026, FEMA issued an advisory notifying states that the agency plans to resume programming support. As of June 2026, the BRIC program has been reestablished, and the town has received reimbursements from FEMA for expended design fees.

The state plans to transfer the project to its hazard mitigation grant program. Moving the project to the state's program would give the town more time to complete the project and include increased costs.

The project is in the design phase.

Had federal funding not been revoked, construction would have likely begun by the end of 2025.