200 North 12th Street
West Columbia, SC 29169
(803) 791-1880

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

General Description

The City's Water and Sewer System is comprised of a water system and a sewer system. The Water Utility and Sewer Utility were established on June 25, 1925, and were combined into one entity on December 4, 1936, pursuant to an ordinance of the West Columbia City Council. The System is operated under the control of the City Council on a consolidated basis.

Service Area

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 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, a 6.0 million gallon per day facility which is located on the Saluda River and the 13.5 million gallons per day Lake Murray Plant. Average daily use for the Saluda River Plant is 3.273 million gallons per day and for the Lake Murray Plant, 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 Metro Columbia Wastewater Treatment Plant, of which the City's available capacity is 3.27 million gallons per day.