COLUMBIA, S.C. — On Thursday, Columbia City Leaders talked about possible solutions to some of Columbia Water's problems. Two weeks ago, News 19 took a deep dive—finding there are more than 4,000 backlog orders, aging 80-year-old water pipes, and 209 job vacancies at the agency.
Now, City officials are working to regain the trust of their customers, as frustrations continue to grow.
"I feel kind of abandoned by the city," said Jim White, Columbia Resident.
White said he is experiencing problems trying to contact Columbia Water.
"That's sort of a fundamental service that we count on, having water into our houses," White said. "Making multiple calls, leaving messages, emailing the government website to ask about the water issue. No response whatsoever from anyone is very frustrating."
On average, White said he pays around $60 a month for service. In January, his water bill was more than $300. He said he tried asking the city for answers but has never been able to get in contact with them.
"Coming out of the pandemic, we're seeing a 40% increase in call volume," said Clint Shealy, Assistant City Manager.
Shealy said his department is getting overwhelmed with calls about billing questions, to questions about starting and disconnecting services, and reports about water main breaks.
"We're increasing our staffing levels, by repositioning folks from night shift, from weekend shift, onto the day shift where we see the vast majority of phone calls," Shealy said.
News 19 asked Shealy, "Aren't you just causing another problem by trying to fix another one? Because isn't this now creating a shortage in the nightside crew and weekend crew as well?"
"We have done some data analysis of our call volume frequency, when are those calls coming in," Shealy said. "We're averaging about nine calls from about 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. the next morning."
Shealy and City Manager, Teresa Wilson said the city is hiring private answering services to work at night and on weekends. The City is also hiring two specialists for online services such as: On-line chatting, and responding to customers emails.
Changes to the call service is expected to be complete by Mid-March.
In addition, the city is also offering competitive pay to hire more field operators.
"You're gonna see us have open interviews at this facility, much like we did at public works," Shealy said. "You're gonna see us doing some alternative marketing approaches. You're gonna see us using temporary agencies, temporary labor agencies to on-board employees quicker."
Wilson said, city officials are working to be more transparent and rebuilding the trust with customers after numerous complaints and problems within the water system.
"We're going to be accountable," Wilson said. "We have federal mandates that apply to water and sewer issues that we've been facing, as any community would. Our community can rest assured, because I am not one to be alarming, our water is safe to drink."
Mayor Daniel Rickenmann said these changes will not impact customer's bills. Funds will be used from last years remaining budget, and part of this years.
For customer Jim White and others, the changes can't come soon enough.
"I don't like having to default to estimating what I really should be paying," White said.