Dorchester County Council to discuss taking on additional water capacity

DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – The Dorchester County Council is slated to decide Monday night whether to approve increasing capacity for public water.

“Water is very important to Dorchester County and [the county] has been a member of the Lake Marion regional water agency for a number of years,” said County Administrator Jason Ward. “Through Lake Marion we currently have a capacity of 1.2 million gallons.”

County officials are now asking council to pass a resolution that would allow capacity to be increased by 1.8 million for a total of 3 million gallons.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expected to pay 75% of the cost associated with the increase, an amount that officials said will help keep costs for the county under $1 million.

“That will allows us to put water at the Winding Woods Industrial Park and make a connection to St. George,” Ward said. “[It] will also allow us to continue to send water to Harleyville and to Ridgeville and eventually as far as 17A and Highway 61 just south of Summerville.”

Officials said extra water is needed to meet the demand of new neighborhoods and businesses as the county grows.

“Public water for us really kind of serves three purposes: it supports community and economic development [and] it supports public safety,” Ward said. “A lot of people don’t think about that particular aspect, but with the fire hydrants and having sufficient fire suppression you have to have a lot of water pressure.”

The increased capacity could also help residents save money on their insurance bills, Ward added.

“And then the final thing is public health. We will be able to tie some people on as we expand the system out towards I-95 and Highway 178 that have been on well water,” he said. “We’ve had some issues in the past with contamination. We’ve been limited to the number of people we can serve.”

The county council is expected to vote on the proposal during its 6 p.m. meeting.