FAQ

 You could possibly have a leaky toilet or faucet that's difficult to detect. It is also possible that there is a leak in your service line. Check out our link on leak detection for additional information.

There may be a system leak in your area or a surrounding area-call our office and report low pressure for your area. You also are responsible for maintaining your pressure regulator so you may want to check it and make sure it is set properly.

A repair could have been completed recently allowing air to enter the line, causing the milky look. Unless there is a boil water notice (extremely rare) the water is safe to drink. Please call our office if you have any water discoloration.

Most likely your water heater needs to be flushed. CAUTION: Most manufacturers recommend hiring a professional to flush your water heater. If you plan on doing this yourself, read the owner's manual to keep from being hurt and or damaging the water heater.

We may have received it after the due date or we may not have received it at all. Call our office and we will help you solve the problem.

Cloudy or milky-looking water is usually caused by tiny air bubbles suspended in the water. This is a natural and harmless phenomenon known as entrained air.

When cold water is heated—such as in your water heater or as it travels through warm pipes—it can no longer hold as much dissolved air. As a result, microscopic air bubbles form and give the water a cloudy appearance. These bubbles are not harmful and do not affect the safety or quality of your water.

If you fill a glass with water and let it sit for a few moments. The bubbles will rise to the surface and the water will clear up on its own.

Rest assured: This is a normal occurrence and there is no need for concern. 

Many rural water systems are private, not-for-profit water utilities and, as such, are not eligible to use tax money for operating expenses. Cassatt Water is a Special Purpose District. Cassatt Water’s source of revenue is primarily water sales, water-related services, fees, and other system revenues. Although a Special Purpose District can issue debt for capital improvements, the cost of operating, maintaining, repairing, and replacing the water system is ultimately supported by the customers who use the system.

Municipalities (i.e. cities and towns) are governmental entities and may be eligible to collect and use tax money for operating expenses. Administrative duties, management costs, and indirect costs can often be spread over a number of departments or cost centers rather than being supported only by water revenue.

By ordinance, towns may require residents to use municipal water and wastewater services rather than using private wells or septic tanks. This evenly distributes operation, maintenance, and debt costs among the municipal population and provides a more consistent revenue base. Rural water systems do not operate the same way. Customers are spread over a much larger area, and the fixed cost of infrastructure remains the same whether there are customers connected or not.

Cassatt Water’s Rural Service Area

Municipal water systems are typically much smaller in area than rural systems, often by a factor of ten or more. Their population density and number of customers per mile of water line are also much greater. Cassatt Water’s service area covers approximately 764 square miles. The system serves all of Kershaw County east of the Wateree River and west of the Little Lynches River, except the City of Camden; all of Lee County west of the Lynches River, except Bishopville and Lynchburg; and small portions of Lancaster and Sumter Counties.

Cassatt Water currently serves more than 27,000 customers with approximately 10,950 active taps. The system includes approximately 890 miles of water mains. This equals roughly 12 taps per mile of water main. By comparison, a compact town system may have hundreds of taps per mile of water line because homes and businesses are located much closer together. In a rural system, the same mile of pipe, valves, hydrants, easements, flushing, mapping, and repairs must be maintained for far fewer customers.

This customer density issue is one of the primary reasons rural water rates may be higher than rates in nearby towns. The cost to install, inspect, repair, replace, and maintain a mile of water main does not decrease simply because the area is rural. The cost is divided among fewer customers, which increases the infrastructure cost per customer.

System Complexity

Municipalities often have one primary source of water, one treatment plant or purchase point, and a relatively short distance to pump water to elevated storage. Rural water systems often require numerous tanks, wells, booster pump stations, pressure zones, backup power, telemetry, and long transmission and distribution mains to maintain pressure and reliability across a wide area.

Cassatt Water operates 14 active wells, 10 booster pump stations and 39 storage tanks. These facilities are necessary to maintain system pressure, provide storage, meet peak demand, and provide redundancy throughout the service area. Tanks and pump stations are expensive to build and maintain. They require inspections, painting, repairs, electrical service, controls, telemetry, mechanical maintenance, and emergency response capability.

Reliability Comes at a Cost

Cassatt Water’s infrastructure is designed to provide reliable service across a large rural footprint. Redundant water sources, multiple tanks, booster stations, emergency generators, telemetry, and trained staff help reduce outages and allow the system to respond during hurricanes, ice storms, drought conditions, power failures, and major line breaks. These investments are important for public health and customer service, but they also increase operating and capital costs.

The water system is operated to meet demand as efficiently as possible while maintaining pressure and water quality. However, rural systems cannot avoid the basic cost of distance. Water must be produced or purchased, stored, pumped, tested, monitored, and delivered through hundreds of miles of infrastructure. Energy, materials, labor, equipment, insurance, vehicles, and regulatory compliance all increase as the size and complexity of the system increases.

Debt, Capital Improvements, and Replacement Needs

The primary driver of long-term water rates is infrastructure. Wells, tanks, pump stations, generators, meters, hydrants, valves, controls, and water mains are expensive assets with limited useful lives. Responsible utilities must plan for repair and replacement before failures occur. Deferring maintenance may keep rates lower in the short term, but it usually creates larger and more expensive problems later.

Cassatt Water has made and continues to make significant investments in its system. These include main extensions, hydraulic modeling, capacity planning, tank maintenance, pump station improvements, meter and billing improvements, backflow compliance, lead and copper compliance, PFAS monitoring, water quality testing, emergency preparedness, and replacement of aging infrastructure. These improvements are necessary to serve existing customers and to prepare for growth in rural Kershaw and Lee Counties.

Cassatt Water has adjusted rates annually in recent years to keep pace with inflation, operating costs, regulatory requirements, debt service, and capital needs. Rate adjustments are not made simply to increase revenue. They are part of a long-term financial plan to keep the system stable, reliable, and capable of meeting customer needs.

Why Town Rates Are Not Always a Fair Comparison

A town system and a rural regional system may both provide drinking water, but the cost structure can be very different. A town may have a small service area, short water mains, high customer density, municipal tax support, and the ability to require connection. Cassatt Water must serve a much larger area, maintain many more miles of infrastructure per customer, and rely primarily on water system revenues to support operations and improvements.

For that reason, comparing only the monthly bill does not tell the full story. The better comparison is the amount of infrastructure that must be supported by each customer. Cassatt Water’s customers help support nearly 900 miles of mains, 39 storage tanks, 10 booster pump stations, 14 active wells, testing, compliance, maintenance, and emergency response capability across approximately 764 square miles.

Conclusion

Cassatt Water understands that water rates matter to every household, farm, church, school, and business it serves. At the same time, providing safe and reliable drinking water in a rural area is fundamentally different from providing water in a small town. Rural systems must maintain more infrastructure per customer, pump and store water across greater distances, and prepare for emergencies across a wide geographic area.

Cassatt Water’s Board of Commissioners makes decisions for the long term, not just the short term. The goal is to operate efficiently, maintain financial stability, reinvest in the system, and continue providing safe, reliable, and uninterrupted water service to the rural communities served by Cassatt Water for many years to come.