2030 Plan - Grand Strand Water and Sewer Authority

3. Engineering and Construction Division
The Engineering Departments of this division, such as Design and New Services, for the
most part will remain stable and will not increase with the overall increase in customer
base. An additional Professional Engineer has been added to the design staff to assist in
implementing the CIP. The CIP calls for spending $611,500,000 over the 20-year period.
This high level engineer has been added to assist in the implementation of this aggressive
capital improvement program. In addition, the Geographic Information System (GIS)
Department has also been expanded to assist in the implementation of a new asset
management program. As the water and wastewater systems continue to grow, a reliable
asset management system is critical.
Also, Inspections Department will increase by several employees in response to new
construction projects as well as developments and new customers added to the system
over the 20-year period. The Construction Department is also anticipated to remain stable
and will maintain a construction schedule similar to current workloads. The Taps and
Repairs Department, however, is expected to grow by several employees as the system
continues to expand and additional customers connect to the system.
4. Utility Operations and Maintenance Division
This division has several departments that will grow very little and some that will grow at
nearly the rate of customer increase. The Environmental Coordination and Compliance
Department is stable and is not expected to increase. The Electrical and Instrumentation
Department and the Water Transmission and Distribution Departments should grow
much less than the customer base.
The water treatment staff will not increase due to increased flow but will increase with
the expansion of the Myrtle Beach Water Treatment Plant. Likewise the wastewater
treatment staff will increase to staff the new Bucksport Regional WWTP. The part of
Agricultural Services that handles alum sludge and sod are not expected to increase
significantly, but the group assigned to transport and dispose of the wastewater biosolids
will increase at or slightly faster than the rate of customer increase. This is because the
labor required for biosolids transport and application is proportional to the solids
produced, and as a greater proportion of the solids is produced at more distant facilities,
average transport times will increase.
Wastewater collection and transmission staff will also increase slightly more than the rate
of customer growth. Rural sewer systems require more frequent service per customer
than traditional gravity sewer systems, and projected expansion of the rural system will
increase staff proportionately. Increased maintenance of aging facilities, more stringent
regulatory requirements, and expansion of the customer service line maintenance
program will also contribute to increases in maintenance staff.
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