Anderson County Wastewater Department was recently recognized as the 2014 Waste Water System of the Year during the South Carolina Rural Water Association’s (SCRWA) Annual Conference. This annual award is given to one wastewater system in the State of South Carolina that demonstrates exemplary wastewater management/innovation and/or customer service.
Staff will be recognized for this achievement during the October 7th County Council Meeting, which will be held at 6:30 pm in the Council Chambers of the historic Courthouse, 101 South Main Street, Anderson.
“Over the past several years, Anderson County has made significant strides toward improving our wastewater operations,” said Anderson County Council Chairman Tommy Dunn. “Our Public Works Division has been successful in improving the collection, transportation and treatment of wastewater in a safe and efficient way while working with our Economic Development staff to provide sewer capacity for new and existing industries.”
“Anderson County continues to be proactive in recruiting new industries by providing the capacity and infrastructure to accommodate the waste water requirements for a variety of different users,” said Anderson County Administrator Rusty Burns. “This is one of the reasons we have seen our unemployment rate drop from 14.2% to 4.3% in a four year span. Since 2010, Anderson County ranks sixth in the state for job creation.”
Currently providing sewer service for approximately 5,000 customers, Anderson County owns, operates and maintains 52 pump stations and approximately 300 miles of collection lines and operates a county owned .5 MGD (million gallons per day) treatment plant. Agreements with four additional Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTP) throughout the county provide for treatment without the expense of building additional WWTP.
“Anderson County Council implemented a base fee for sewer customers to cover depreciation of its 40-year-old sewer collection system,” said Anderson County Wastewater Manager Derrick Singleton. “These fees will assist with future growth, while providing for improvements and upgrades to the existing system that will maintain safe and reliable service for customers. Additionally, a Five Year Capital Improvement Plan has been instated by the County with the revenue from base fees helping to fund these projects.”
Anderson County successfully petitioned DHEC to reduce allocation for single family residential homes from 400 GPD (gallons per day) to 300 GPD at the 6 & 20 WWTP along with one other plant. Commercial and industrial customers were also researched for lower allocations and resulted in a reduction of more than 300,000 GPD of allocated flow.
“These efforts brought recognition to our Wastewater System and they will save Anderson County thousands of dollars in the future by not having to upgrade our wastewater treatment plants,” said Holt Hopkins, Deputy County Administrator.
