2030 Plan - Grand Strand Water and Sewer Authority

G. Service to New Developments
Since GSWSA was chartered without funding, taxing authority, or any apparent outside
source of revenues, the cost of providing service to new developments has necessarily
and appropriately been at the expense of the developer. In the very early years, cost
sharing approaches were used for offsite facilities with the developers installing the
internal or onsite improvements. Over the years, a very comprehensive set of
specifications and guidelines has been developed in order to systematically handle new
development. In the early 80’s, impact fees became a part of the rate and cost of service
structure in order to ensure that each customer was paying a proportionate share of the
capital costs for transmission and treatment facilities. GSWSA has refined this policy
over the years and now has a system in place to provide off-site improvements to service
new development provided the developer pays the capital cost in impact fees necessary to
support the project. Developers continue to install their internal improvements according
to GSWSA’s water and sewer system specifications and deed the improvements to
GSWSA at the completion of construction for operation, maintenance, and service to the
new customers.
H. Service to Rural Communities
In the early years, expanding service to existing residents and communities was usually
handled on a case by case basis. If a community needed water service, costs were
proportionally allocated to the existing and potential future customers. Many
communities received service in this manner. However, this funding method was not an
adequate mechanism for providing water and wastewater service to meet all the existing
community needs. A more systematic basis was needed that would incorporate an
equitable and uniform cost structure for serving the rural communities as well as
providing a systematic method for determining when, where, and in what priority the
communities would get service. Using several million dollars in surplus bond funds from
the Bull Creek project as seed money, a rural program was established with a key criteria
of having a minimum of 10 customers per mile petition for service before lines would be
extended. Since establishing the rural program in 1993, over $25,000,000 has been spent
installing lines to approximately 9,500 new customers. In addition to providing drinking
water service, a major benefit of the program is water for fire flow protection in the rural
areas. Lines installed in the rural areas are sized at a minimum required to support fire
hydrants.
Similarly, GSWSA established the criteria of a minimum of 10 customers per mile for
extending wastewater service into the rural areas of the county. In urban areas, large
diameter gravity sewer collection lines are laid on grade connecting to large pumping
stations serving entire communities. Because of the lack of population densities, this
type system is not feasible in rural areas. To provide service to the rural communities,
small residential pumping stations are used. These units have proven to be a reliable and
cost effective method of providing wastewater service to the rural areas of the county.
Since initialing the rural sewer program in 1996, over $30,000,000 has been spent
providing service to 5,000 customers.
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