The Dorchester County Water & Sewer Department serves 25,000 sanitary sewer customers. The Charleston Water System bills 4,000 customers for the department. The current sewer service area covers approximately 263 square miles.

The department owns and operates two wastewater treatment facilities: the Upper Wastewater Treatment Plant in Saint George and the Lower Wastewater Treatment Plant in North Charleston. It is comprised of 126 pump stations, approximately 115 miles of force main, approximately 10,200 manholes, and approximately 315 miles of gravity sewer line. 

There are two other sewer providers in the county.  They are the Town of Harleyville and Summerville Commissioners of Public Works (CPW). 

Request Service

Prior to requesting service from Dorchester County Water & Sewer (DCWS) please use our interactive map to ensure the address is located in our service area.

If the address is in the DCWS service area please complete the Start Service form.

Note: A non-refundable origination fee will be due at the time of application. The fee is $25 for residential service and $100 for commercial service.

To avoid a delay in service, please make sure the application has been submitted/received by the Water & Sewer Department at least one (1) business day prior to the desired service start date.

Fat, Oil and Grease (FOG) Program

FOG is one primary cause of blockages/clogs in sewer collection systems. Dorchester County Water & Sewer requires all commercial food service facilities, including restaurants, motels, hotels, cafeterias, bakeries, schools, etc. that discharge food preparation wastewaters into the sewer collection system to have a Grease Interceptor installed prior to operation. Grease Interceptors should be properly maintained and continuously kept in satisfactory and effective operation by the owner at their expense.

FOG Do’s and Don’ts

• Don’t pour grease or oil down any drain
• Don’t dump grease or oil on the ground
• Do scrape or wipe all pots, pans, and dishes before washing
• Do pour excess grease and oil in a disposal container. Once cool dispose of in garbage. 

Refer to Division 15 of the Dorchester County Water & Sewer Ordinance for more information regarding the Department's FOG Program.

Wastewater System Capacity Analysis

With a growing population and an aging sewer system, ongoing maintenance and improvement projects are necessary to provide an efficient and effective delivery of services.

Accordingly, DCWS has underway a number of improvement projects to increase capacities and flow path modifications in several areas. While these improvements have been included in the following evaluation, a more detailed analysis has been completed to see how these changes affect the system as a whole as well as the downstream components including the WWTP.

View the complete Wastewater System Capacity Analysis.