City Of Columbia

Find your basin area on the In Your Area page. Current project info in your area will be posted on your basin page. You’ll also find links to additional resources.

A sanitary sewer overflow, or SSO, is a discharge of raw sewage that overflows from a sewer onto the ground or into local streams and rivers. SSOs have many different causes, including: clogs, pipes breaking, power failures, undersized infrastructure, rain water entering leaky pipes, inadequate sewer capacity, sewer defects that allow stormwater and groundwater to overload the system, lapses in sewer system operation and maintenance, and vandalism. For more information click here or to report a suspected SSO call (803) 545-3300. 

The wastewater system consists of aging infrastructure that must be replaced, rehabilitated, or upgraded to increase capacity. Having the correct technology, data, and management systems for efficient operation and decision-making is imperative to the future of the system.

Because the much older sewer system was constructed from clay pipes, these pipes tend to show their age by the way of cracks, which makes them susceptible to wet-weather events. As this infrastructure ages, the need to assess the system and replace or rehabilitate infrastructure increases.

Columbia’s wastewater treatment facility was first constructed in 1974 with a capacity of 20 MGD, which included plans for growth. Subsequent expansions to the plant occurred in 1979, 1983, and again in 1996. The treatment plant is now capable of treating up to 60 MGD.

The stormwater drainage system is a separate system and is not a part of the wastewater collection system. For more about the City's stormwater system click here. To learn how our lawncare practices impact local waterways via the storm drain, visit columbiascwater.net/about-stormwater/blue-thumb-landscaper/.  

Your private sewer line is the underground sewer pipe that connects your plumbing to the public sewer system. No, the City does not repair private sewer lines. Property owners are responsible for maintaining and repairing sewer pipes in their buildings and within their property lines. Visit the Columbia Water Customer Library to download the Understanding Your Sewer Lateral brochure. 

Help keep your private sewer lines in good working condition by avoiding planting trees, shrubs, or bushes in easements on your property and near the sewer lines. Roots from plants and trees can enter, block, and even cause damage to sewers. To download a copy of the Utility Easements: Your Property & City Infrastructure brochure click here.

The Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters. The basis of the CWA was enacted in 1948 and was called the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, but the Act was significantly reorganized and expanded in 1972. The CWA has implemented pollution control programs and made it unlawful to discharge any pollutant from a point source (a discharge pipe) into streams, creeks, rivers or lakes unless a permit was obtained.