Powdersville Water has undertaken a $1.5 million project to improve the water service and fire flows along the Highway 153 corridor. For many years the corridor has continued to grow and water infrastructure must be added to support this growth. The project includes the installation of 13,500 feet of 12-inch ductile iron water main from the elevated tank at Easley Bridge Road to Hood Road, where it will connect to existing piping. Work began on the project in May and final completion is expected by the end of October, 2017. “This project is a direct response to the explosive growth we have seen in the Powdersville area”, explained Dyke Spencer, Executive Director of Powdersville Water. “Our hydraulic modeling had predicted this water main would be needed in a couple of years, but it did not factor in the unbelievable development that we have experienced – so we had to accelerate it a bit.”

The project will improve Powdersville Water’s service level by insuring that adequate water pressure and fire flows are maintained along the entire Highway 153 corridor during peak demands. $1 million of the project will be funded from capital reserves, while the remaining $500,000 will be paid for using capacity fees collected from those that have tapped into the system over the years. “We are very fortunate to have the funds to pay for a project of this size without incurring any new debt” said Jimmy Williams, Chairman of the PW Board of Directors. “This speaks well of the planning and stewardship of our management and staff.”

The capacity fees were collected from new homes and commercial developments that have connected to the system in recent years. This fee is called a capacity fee because new customers are actually purchasing the capacity from the system that they will need for their new homes or business ventures. Ultimately, these funds are used solely to offset the cost of future system upgrades that add capacity back to the system.

Powdersville Water is a special purpose district that serves a population of approximately 35,000 people and has over 13,000 water connections. Its service area extends from northern Pickens County south along the Saluda River and I-85 into a large section of northern Anderson County.