Economic Development

The City of Denmark provides drinking water to customers within the city limits and most areas within close proximity to the city limits including Voorhees College and Denmark Technical College. These two (2) colleges in Denmark are the only institutions of higher learning within Bamberg County. The water distribution system is operated and maintained by the City of Denmark Department of Waterworks. The City of Denmark also supplies water service eastward along U.S. Highway 78 to a wholesale service connection with the BBPW at the Bamberg County Airport Industrial Park. The City of Denmark, also known as System No. 0510002 by the SCDHEC, serves approximately 1,500 water customers according to the SCDHEC’s Sanitary Survey conducted in 2006.

The City of Denmark owns four (4) groundwater wells. Only one (1) of these wells, however, is currently in operation. The City of Denmark’s groundwater wells are known as the Brooker Center Well, Cox Avenue Well, Voorhees Road Well, and Legare/Clark Street Well. Of those, the Cox Avenue Well was removed from service approximately twenty (20) years ago due to high levels of iron within the raw water which needs additional treatment before distribution to customers. On September 21, 2006, due to elevated levels of tetrachoroethylene (PCE) in the Brooker Center Well and trichloroethylene (TCE) in Legare/Clark Street Well, the City of Denmark ceased operation of these wells as a precautionary measure. Water from these two (2) wells was found to contain elevated levels of two (2) organic chemicals regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the SCDHEC. The PCE contamination in the Brooker Center Well has been linked to an old dry cleaner known as Colonial Cleaners by SCDHEC officials. The TCE contamination in the Legare/Clark Street Well is still under investigation by SCDHEC officials. Initial reports from SCDHEC officials indicate that the TCE contamination is not suspected to be linked to Colonial Cleaners. The City of Denmark activated an existing mutual aid agreement between it and the BBPW. The BBPW has been supplying the City of Denmark with approximately 400,000 Gallons Per Day (GPD). It is important to note that the SCDHEC Bureau of Land and Waste Management is currently subsidizing a portion of the costs associated with the wholesale purchase of the water from the BBPW with the State Dry Cleaners mitigation fund. The locations of the four (4) wells owned by the City of Denmark are illustrated in Exhibit E. Additionally, the production rates for the active well and the supply capacity purchased from the BBPW can be found in Table 2.2.2-1.

Table 2.2.2-1 City of Denmark-Groundwater Well Production Rates

That being the case, based on the SPDWR, the City of Denmark currently has a water supply capacity of approximately 0.859 MGD including its wholesale supply connection to the BBPW after the City voluntarily ceased operation of the Brooker Center Well and the Legare/Clark Street Well. Approximately fifty-seven percent (57%) of the City of Denmark’s total supply capacity is currently purchased through a wholesale connection with the BBPW. If the City of Denmark’s two (2) recently closed wells were not closed due to elevated levels of PCE and/or TCE, then the supply capacity of the City of Denmark’s water system would be represented in Table 2.2.2-2.

Table 2.2.2-2 City of Denmark
Groundwater Well Production Rates Prior to September 2006

The City of Denmark lost approximately sixty-nine percent (69%) of its capacity in September 2006 when voluntarily ceasing operation of the Brooker Center Well and the Legare/Clark Street Well as a precautionary measure. Additionally, the City of Denmark has approximately eighteen percent (18%) less total system capacity after ceasing the operation of the Brooker Center Well and the Legare/Clark Street Well, even with their agreement to purchase up to 400,000 GPD from the BBPW. Raw water from the active well is disinfected with gaseous chlorine. Given the current supply and demand within the system, the City of Denmark has an additional 152,600 GPD of surplus capacity that could be utilized. This information is tabulated in Table 2.2.2-3.

Table 2.2.2-3 City of Denmark-Current System Capacity

Additionally, the largest five water customers of the City of Denmark, based on average monthly usage, are denoted in Table 2.2.2-4.

Table 2.2.2-4 City of Denmark-Five Largest Water Customers

The City of Denmark Department of Waterworks currently owns, operates, and maintains three (3) elevated storage tanks. One (1) of these elevated storage tanks is located downtown and is known as the City Hall Tank, the oldest active tank within the City’s distribution system. A 1second tank is located near the NIBCO facility and is known as the NIBCO Tank. Within approximately one half (½) mile of the NIBCO Tank, the corridor along South Locust Avenue is home to several of the industrial facilities in the Denmark vicinity, and a large demand for water is within this corridor. The third tank is located off South Voorhees Road and is known as the Voorhees Road Tank. The capacities of each of the tanks are tabulated in Table 2.2.3-1.

Table 2.2.3-1 City of Denmark-Storage Facilities

The locations the City of Denmark’s Elevated storage tanks are depicted in Exhibit F. The elevated storage tanks located within the City of Denmark’s water system have been assessed to ensure property fire protection and maintain adequate water pressure and the results of that assessment are tabulated in Table 2.2.3-2

Table 2.2.3-2 City of Denmark-Elevated Storage Assessment

1-Maximum Daily Demand (MDD) = Average Daily Demand X 1.5
2-DHEC State Primary Drinking Water Regulations (SPDWR) Section 61-58.B

It should be noted that based on the City of Denmark’s current average daily demand, the system has no surplus elevated storage. The City of Denmark is in need of at least an additional 54,950 gallons of elevated storage to meet SCDHEC’s SPDWR. The active water production facilities and associated treatment and storage facilities are depicted in a photographical presentation of the City of Denmark’s Water System in Appendix B.

Once the City of Denmark voluntarily ceased the production from two (2) of their groundwater wells, the City engaged its consultant to plan and project costs for additional water supply facilities. The City’s consultant recommended that the City of Denmark increase its water supply capacity by adding two (2) new groundwater wells with production capacities of 500 GPM each. Each of these two (2) proposed wells are planned to feature 12-inch diameter inner casing and screen and a total depth of only 350 feet. It was proposed that these wells be drilled to the north and west of the City away from the direction that SCDHEC officials believe that the PCE and TCE contamination plumes are slowly migrating. The proposed plan also included the addition of approximately 5,400 linear feet of 8-inch water main for connection of the proposed wells to the existing system. The locations of the two (2) proposed wells and all other wells owned by the City of Denmark are depicted in Exhibit G. The proposed costs for improvements to the water system and wells were estimated by the City’s consultant to be $895,345.

The City of Denmark has received tentative approval for a grant from the South Carolina Department of Commerce’s (SCDOC’s) Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) in the amount of $860,200. This grant program requires a local funds match of ten percent (10%) of the total grant funding. The SCDOC has postponed the issuance of this grant to the City of Denmark pending the recommendations of this study, as the SCDOC wishes to ensure that these public funds will be spent in the most effective means such that the CDBG funds will be of the greatest public benefit. With this in mind, the alternative of constructing these proposed wells has been compared to the alternative of continuing to purchase water on a wholesale basis from the BBPW. Life cycle cost analyses were prepared for these alternatives for a twenty (20) year period. It should be noted that the life cycle cost analyses appropriately do not consider any current subsidies being paid by the State Dry Cleaners mitigation fund or the proposed CDBG funding. These life cycle cost analyses are presented in Exhibits H1 and I, respectively.

Based on the existing hydrogeology of Bamberg County and the construction details incorporated in the BBPW’s most recently constructed wells, Alliance Consulting Engineers, Inc. is of the opinion that it will likely not be possible to construct wells as shallow as have been proposed and still achieve the desired yield rates. It is further believed that the deeper drilling required to reach sufficient yield rates will likely encounter groundwater with high iron concentrations just as were found by the BBPW. For these reasons, it is believed that these well costs will rise from approximately $321,000 each to approximately $917,000 each with an assumed depth of 1,250 feet and an iron removal facility costing $1 per gallon per day of capacity. Life cycle cost analyses incorporating these higher capital costs are presented in Exhibit H2.

The City of Denmark has developed a water rate schedule based on usage and in-town or out-of-town customer status. Table 2.2.5-1, which denotes these rates, indicates that all customers are charged the standard monthly service fee for the first 2,000 gallons of usage. Customers that reside within the city limits are charged $7.50 per month and customers that reside outside the city limits are charged $12.50 per month. After the initial 2,000 gallons, in-town customers are charged a rate of $1.88 per 1,000 gallons for usage up to 10,000 gallons. After the initial 2,000 gallons, out-of-town customers are charged a rate of $3.13 per 1,000 gallons for usage up to 10,000 gallons. After 10,000 gallons customers residing within city limits are charged $2.50 per 1,000 gallons, and customers residing outside of the city limits are charged a rate of $3.75 per 1,000 gallons. As is the case with the residential customers of the BBPW, it is believed that an average residential customer of the City of Denmark uses approximately 5,500 gallons per month. Accordingly, an average monthly bill for a residence located within the city limits of Denmark would be $14.08, and a residence located outside city limits would be charged $23.46 per month. Commercial and industrial customers are subject to the same rates as residences located within or outside of the city limits.

Table 2.2.5-1 City of Denmark-Water Rate and Fee Schedule

As required by law, an Audited Financial Statement is prepared on an annual basis for the City of Denmark to assess the Department of Water Works financial position. A summarized version of the 2006 Audited Financial Statement pertaining to the public water system can be found in Table 2.2.6-1, and a complete copy of the 2006 Audited Financial Statement - See - Appendix F.

Table 2.2.6-1 City of Denmark-Water/Wastewater Financial Statement

From the summarized financial statement above, it appears that the City of Denmark Department of Waterworks needs to conduct a rate and fee study to asses the need for a potential water rate increase.