Executive Summary
Bamberg County, in its vision for the future well being and quality of life for its citizens, commissioned Alliance Consulting Engineers, Inc. to undertake the task of evaluating the current condition of each public water and wastewater system within the County and determining the feasibility of forming a regional water and wastewater system. In Bamberg County’s quest to foster industrial, commercial, and residential development in the County, development of adequate water and wastewater infrastructure is viewed as an absolute necessity. At present, Bamberg County has six (6) individual public water systems and three (3) individual public wastewater systems in operation. Each of the public water systems is individually responsible for its own supply, treatment, storage, and/or distribution of potable water. Each of the public wastewater systems is individually responsible for the collection, conveyance, and treatment of wastewater. The current public water service purveyors in Bamberg County include Bamberg County, the Bamberg Board of Public Works (BBPW), the City of Denmark, the Town of Ehrhardt, the Town of Govan, and the Town of Olar. Similarly, the current public wastewater service purveyors in Bamberg County include the BBPW, the City of Denmark, and the Town of Ehrhardt. Currently, the Town of Olar, the Town of Govan, and the remainder of the unincorporated area within the County are not provided with public wastewater service. This is due primarily to the absence of sufficient population to make it economically feasible to support the provision of wastewater service throughout a broader geographic region.
Through data collection and evaluation, Alliance Consulting Engineers, Inc. has developed several scenarios and recommendations on how to better prepare for economic and industrial development and a reversal of the population decline that has been experienced in Bamberg County over the last few years. This Water and Wastewater Regionalization Feasibility Study for Bamberg County addresses the condition of the existing water and wastewater infrastructure, as well as the needed infrastructure for potential future development, by examining alternatives for improving these systems to better serve the citizens of Bamberg County. In addition, the findings and conclusions of this study have been utilized to formulate a series of recommended short-term and long-term improvements to begin the process of regionalizing water and wastewater services in Bamberg County. In the short-term, Rate & Fee Studies are recommended for all existing water and wastewater systems with the exception of the Town of Olar Water System which is in a non-declining financial position. Three (3) water improvements projects have been conceptualized, all of which are viewed as relatively long-term, for the future regionalization of water service in Bamberg County. Two (2) short-term wastewater improvements projects and three (3) longer term wastewater improvements projects have been conceptualized for the future regionalization of wastewater service in Bamberg County.