Water & Sewer

You may apply for Water and Sewer services at City Hall, 200 North 12th Street, West Columbia. You can also download the Application for Service by clicking Application for Water/Sewer Service. You must provide your Social Security number and the following documents when applying for these services:

• Homeowners must provide proof of ownership.
• Tenants must provide a copy of their lease agreement.
• Accounts serviced outside city limits must provide a signed annexation agreement. (Agreement must be signed by the property owner.)

Information on Water and/or Sewer services may be obtained by calling a Customer Service Representative at City Hall.

Please note: To initiate water/sewer service, a deposit is required. The deposit is only payable by cash/check or credit card, at city hall, at this time. Contact Customer Service for the exact deposit amount.

The following rates are used to calculate bills for water consumption and sewer usage. Most residential customers are billed bi-monthly (every other month).

The system’s service area, which includes all of the City and portions of unincorporated areas of the County making up approximately 5% of the County’s land area and including 20% of the County’s population (including the City), is bounded on the north by Lake Murray, on the east by the City of Columbia, on the southeast and south by the City of Cayce, and rural areas of the County served by the Joint Commission, and on the west by the Town of Lexington’s water and sewer service area. The unincorporated areas of the County included in the Service Area adhere to those established by the ordinance of the County Council of the County in 1988.

The Water Utility currently consists of the following components: three finished water reservoirs with a total capacity of 870,000 gallons; four high service pumps which pump from 1,400 to 3,200 gallons per minute (“GPM”), four elevated storage tanks (Green Hill Standpipe at 2.5 million gallons, Platt Springs Road at 500,000 gallons, Pony Hill Road at 1.0 million gallons and the Laurel Road Standpipe at 2.03 million gallons), and two booster stations pumping from 520 to 625 GPM. The Water Utility has 106 miles of distribution lines varying from two inches to 36 inches in diameter.

The City currently owns two water treatment facilities, the 6 million gallon per day Riverside Plant, located on the Saluda River, and the 22.5 million gallons per day Lake Murray Plant. The average daily use for the Saluda River Plant is 3.273 million gallons per day and the Lake Murray Plant is 9.023 million gallons per day.

The Sewer Utility is a wastewater collection system comprised of 70 miles of sewer main. Approximately 35% of the Sewer Utility’s components are less than 15 years old. Wastewater collection by the City is treated at the Metro Columbia Wastewater Treatment Plant, of which the City’s available capacity is 3.27 million gallons per day.