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North Augusta officials say wastewater capacity sufficient for near-term projects but warn of high future purchase costs
Summary
City staff told council the city has about 713,000 gallons per day of unallocated wastewater treatment capacity but flagged regional pressure and a quoted future purchase cost of $10.89 per gallon; officials say large annexations or major developments could require council policy decisions.
North Augusta public works officials told the City Council at a Nov. 24 study session that the city currently has limited unallocated wastewater treatment capacity for new projects but no immediate shortage for planned work.
James Sutton, the city’s wastewater collection system presenter, said the system conveys about 4.8 million gallons per day (gpd) from North Augusta customers plus roughly 2.0 million gpd from Edgefield County customers to the treatment plant on Tonic Road. He said the city’s initial purchased treatment capacity is 8,672,000 gpd; allocated capacity committed to approved developments is about 6,462,000 gpd; reserved/pending allocations total roughly 1,497,000 gpd; and the currently unallocated amount available for new projects is about 713,000 gpd.
Why it matters: councilors noted that with planned and reserved allocations included the city would be operating near 92% of its purchased capacity — a level some infrastructure guidelines describe as "critical." That matters for permitting decisions and for whether the city should set policy limits on approvals or require developers to pay for additional capacity in the event of large annexations.
Sutton said Aiken County — which governs and operates the regional treatment plant — is planning a plant expansion to increase capacity by about 6,000,000 gpd (from roughly 20,000,000 to 26,000,000 gpd) and that agencies are conducting studies to assess future need. He also told council staff had reported a proposed future capacity purchase price of $10.89 per gallon, a large increase from historical per‑gallon rates. "Future capacity cost for all agencies is increased from 48¢ per gallon to $10.89 per gallon," he said during the presentation.
Councilors asked procedural and policy questions: whether reserved allocations revert to unallocated capacity if a developer cancels a project (Sutton: yes); whether the city has a formal policy to stop approving development once a capacity threshold is reached (JD McCauley: no formal policy now; the city will not issue permits if capacity is exhausted); and who would pay for newly purchased capacity (Sutton: typically the developer or property owner, but council would decide).
On next steps, staff said they will continue coordination with Aiken County and engineering firms and return to council with modeling and policy options. McCauley said the planning commission has been briefed and that the administration will bring specific recommendations if a sustainable policy or purchase is needed.
Quotes from the meeting capture the main points: "We convey about 4,800,000 gallons a day" (James Sutton) and "we're not in dire [straits] because there's no dire project coming tomorrow" (Mayor).
The city did not adopt policy or purchase additional capacity at the study session; staff said they will present options and any recommended ordinance or agreement for council consideration at a future meeting.
