Utility bills in Aiken County expected to increase soon
AIKEN COUNTY, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - If you live in Aiken County, you can expect to pay more for your utility bill soon due to costly upgrades to the aging water treatment plant.
Behind the scenes of Aiken County’s growth is a hidden challenge - wastewater.
Aiken County is working to tackle this issue in two phases: catching up on maintenance to get the full 20 million gallons of wastewater it holds now back online, and then upgrading the facility to accommodate an additional 6 million gallons.
To meet future demands, Aiken County is expanding the plant’s capacity by six million gallons.
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“We sell this 20 million gallons of capacity to the city of Aiken and to the city of North Augusta. Most of this has been sold. So our current throughput is about 12 million a day. But, in order for the retailers to be able to sell additional to developments, we’re going to need the additional 6 million gallons,” said Gary Bunker, Aiken County Council chairman.
To pay for the $120 million cost, they’re raising their wholesale rate, which is what they charge cities and water districts for wastewater.
“Our current rate is $2.73 per 1000 gallons. We’re going to increase this to $3.04, so it’s about an 11% increase,” said Bunker.
Whether or not that shows up on your bill depends on which city you live in and if they the cost down to you.
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“Maybe $0.31 that gets ed on. Conversely, maybe only $0.10 gets ed on, or that $0.31 could become $0.50,” said Bunker.
This won’t affect your taxes, says Bunker, and if you’re on septic or have another arrangement, then this won’t impact you.
Bunker says they expect the project to be done by 2029.
They will likely have their third and final reading of the budget in the second week of June, according to Bunker, and they will make a decision no later than June 30.
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