SWANSEA, S.C. — In the town of Swansea, leaders are deciding next steps in the future of their water system.
The town says they've had several main breaks within the past two years, including three this year.
A water study is what's in the works for Swansea. Town council met earlier tonight to discuss and ultimately approve a contract with a company called WK Dickson Engineering.
This company will now start work for the town, pinpointing all of the weak spots in the town's water system, sewer system and wastewater system.
After applying about a year ago, last month, the town of Swansea was awarded a South Carolina Infrastructure Investment Program grant through the state's Rural Infrastructure Authority, through Federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars.
And this was actually a grant the South Carolina Councils of Governments and the Joint Municipal Water and Sewer Commission offered to help the town with.
Guy Schmoltze is the engineering and construction manager for the commission.
"There's a need statewide for smaller systems. They're becoming older, where they're needing replacement, they don't have the staffing, they don't have the resources and they don't know where to start. And so this gives them a chance to be able to see what they have, how they need to move forward," Schmoltze said.
According to Schmoltze, this $600,000 grant will allow the town to comprehensively see the pros and cons of their water infrastructure, including sewer and wastewater.
"It really has more to do with the aging metering system that we have and we have a system that's causing problems from time to time on bills, where it misreads and it climbs a bill up," said Michael Luongo, Swansea district 3 town council member.
According to Luongo, this holistic approach includes water flow and pressure, sewer piping, security cameras, a computer generated map of the system, an evaluation of the water employee base and water pay structure.
Luongo explains beyond main breaks the past two years, the town has also been extremely short on staff, so they currently contract their work with EA Services, a company that offers water services in the region.
"We've only got a water clerk at the moment. We have nobody else on staff right now. So, we used to have a manager and a, let's just say helper. We no longer have either one of those," Luongo said.
He adds that without these other agencies, the town likely otherwise wouldn't have been able to get the grant on their own.
"We have a debt ratio that's still fairly large from a $4M water project that we did back in 2011. And so we still owe money on that," Luongo said.
He tells News 19 this debt is about half paid at this point, and that this new grant will give them the tools they need to plan for the future.
According to joint municipal, this water study is set to begin in the new year, with quarterly updates, and a final report with recommendations this time next year.