WINNSBORO – At Monday night’s County Council meeting, Fairfield County Administrator Vic Carpenter gave an in-depth update on the status of the county’s wastewater treatment project. He spoke about progress on critical approvals and next steps in construction and funding.
“This was presented to the Commission last week,” Carpenter said, “and we’ll normally present reports to Council right after so that y’all can have that information.”
A major milestone, Carpenter explained, was the completion of the amendment to the regional 208 water quality plan. This plan governs how wastewater is handled in each river basin.
“For us, it’s the Broad River. We own a piece of that. Everybody else owns a piece of that,” he said. “In order to create a new wastewater treatment plant, we have to get a bigger part of that river.”
Now that the amendment has been approved, county officials can begin capacity negotiations with key stakeholders – Richland County, the City of Columbia, and the Town of Cayce – who are currently the major dischargers into the Broad River.
Exploring Construction Methods
Carpenter also spoke about the construction delivery methods under consideration, which he said could have a big impact on timeline and cost. The traditional “low bid” method is one option, but officials are also exploring “construction manager at risk,” a model that brings engineers, architects, and contractors under one umbrella and puts cost and schedule risk on the builder.
“Generally speaking, this style results in faster and more cost-effective programs,” Carpenter said. “Speed is critical. Every month these projects go up. If we can cut six months off a project of this dollar amount, it’s a significant savings.”
If the county chooses the traditional low bid route, Carpenter said bid advertisements could begin in December 2026, with construction starting in September 2027 and continuing through 2029. A construction manager at risk model could potentially accelerate that timeline by six months or more.
Cost Estimates and Public Transparency
Updated cost estimates put the total project between $86 million and $113 million as compared to the original $48 million estimated cost to go to Cedar Creek. Carpenter acknowledged that while some funds have already been secured and invested wisely, there is still work to be done.
“We’ve got four years,” he said. “So now we’ve got to start working on how we’re going to finish this project.”
To improve public access to the project status, the county is rolling out new online dashboards that will show updates on each phase, including completion status and schedule tracking.
“Just a visual way people can look at it,” Carpenter said. “Not 42 pages of data and details, but enough that if you want to see are we behind or ahead, you can pull it up and look at it.”
