Wasted water, leaks push some Columbia Water customers to their breaking point

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Water leaks in a Columbia-area neighborhood are pushing neighbors to their breaking point.

Three leaks have people living near Forest Acres concerned about wasted water.

During repairs, homeowners were left with potholes, some damage to fencing, and more frustrations.

Chris Keiger lives in a quiet neighborhood in Columbia, off Rockbridge Road.

Columbia Water said there was an active “small” leak to the service line beside her home, causing a steady flow.

“We should protect our resources and it is definitely one of our resources,” she said in an interview last week.

She filed a complaint with the water company, and on March 15, she shared a note with her neighbors asking them to call as well because she said that Columbia Water’s track record in her neighborhood has left her disappointed.

The leak was fixed on Sunday, March 23, according to Keiger, but the new pavement that neighbors said they have been waiting for some time looked different last week.

Water is essential for survival.

Keiger believes wasting it is not acceptable.

“I do think it’s going to be the new gold in the future,” she said.

Columbia Water representatives had initially told Keiger that her leak would be fixed by the end of March, but she wanted an immediate response.

But Clint Shealy, who leads Columbia Water, said the priority goes to water main breaks, customers who don’t have water service or who are experiencing reduced pressure.

“We do recognize that every drop is precious, and we want to preserve every bit that we can,” he said. “Anything that’s creating a public safety issue in a roadway receives a priority and almost an immediate response there and the others are worked as they enter the system and placed an order.”

Keiger said the priority order, given Columbia Water’s thousands of miles of water mains, appears reasonable.

“I think that’s fine, but over a year to fix a water?” she asked. “I don’t think we’ve had that many big breaks that have required their attention.”

A few blocks away on Fernleaf Road, neighbors say the water there had been streaming for more than a year and that they had alerted Columbia Water.

That leak was repaired last month.

“Highly unusual for me to hear things like a year to respond so certainly would want to dig into that a little bit more because records aren’t really showing that,” Shealy said in a recent interview. “Not second-guessing what folks are saying, just would need to drill into that a little bit further.”

Shealy said that with an influx of repairs following some of the harder freezes this winter, some of the smaller service line leaks may take around three or four weeks to fix as opposed to one week.

Anxious about the possible response time to her leak, Keiger jumped into action and typed up a letter to her neighbors and asked them to complain.

“I truly believe the squeaky wheel gets greased, and the more complaints, the more likely we’ll have action,” she said. “Also, I don’t want my property ruined and eroded because of just uncontrolled water.”

Keiger’s frustrations are flowing because even though Columbia Water crews had stopped the other leak at Fernleaf, the homeowners there say they left behind some damage to their irrigation line and electric dog fence.

What’s left, Keiger believes, is dangerous to the neighborhood’s many dog walkers.

“It’s not fixed,” she said. “They left a huge hole. They’ve torn up the roads. They damaged some property, some lines on a person’s property, and if that’s what they do for a job, then we’re in big trouble. That’s it. That’s not the way you do work. They didn’t finish it.”

Columbia Water said Keiger should not be seeing a higher water bill due to the leak because it is on the city’s side of the service line.

Shealy said he would follow up to see if restoration crews will be heading back out to the Fernleaf location to repair the road.

Columbia Water said they appreciate customers’ patience as they work to repair every leak and break.

Customers are encouraged to share their concerns with the water utility by calling the customer service line at 803-545-3300 or by submitting a complaint through the MyColaSC application on their smartphone.

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