Anderson County, SC Water Use Rules: Leak Reporting Duty (2026)
Key Facts
- Notice period
- 10 days to repair a leak
- Trigger
- County-proclaimed severe or extreme drought
- Consequence
- Supplier may curtail/deny service
- Drought metric
- Palmer Index thresholds, Sec. 44-257
- General penalty
- Misdemeanor or up to $500 civil fine
Summary
Once Anderson County Council proclaims a severe or extreme drought, an unresolved leak becomes an enforcement trigger, not just a waste of water. Sec. 44-258 lets water suppliers curtail service to any customer who received a ten-day written notice to repair one or more leaks and failed to comply, folding leak repair into the county's nonessential-use rules.
Nonessential water use categories, other than essential water use, may be curtailed during severe or extreme drought. Some examples of nonessential water use are as follows: ... (2)Commercial and industrial. ... e.Serving customers who have been given a ten-day notice to repair one or more leaks and have failed to comply.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 2).
Full Breakdown
Anderson County's drought-control division (Code §§ 44-256 through 44-260) exists, per Sec. " When drought conditions threaten essential supply, the county council issues a proclamation, and the restrictions in the division take effect immediately and stay in force until the proclamation is rescinded. Sec. 00 or below, each verified through the regional drought response committee or the state water resources commission. Sec. 44-258 lists nonessential water uses that can be curtailed once severe or extreme drought is declared, split into residential/institutional categories (sprinkling lawns, filling pools, washing vehicles) and commercial/industrial categories.
The leak provision sits in the commercial/industrial list: subsection (2)e treats "serving customers who have been given a ten-day notice to repair one or more leaks and have failed to comply" as a nonessential use the supplier may stop. The county also imposes a duty on the supply side: Sec. 2 directs water systems, during even a moderate drought alert, to "institute an increased water supply system maintenance effort to identify and correct water leaks" on their own infrastructure. Sec. C. Code § 49-23-10 et seq.
Outside a declared severe or extreme drought, this division does not impose a standing leak-reporting duty; the ten-day notice mechanism only becomes operative once the county proclamation is in effect.
Violations & Fines
Sec. 44-256(d) declares that continuing a nonessential use, including uncorrected leaks after a ten-day repair notice, during a declared shortage "constitute[s] a waste of water, subjecting the offender to penalties." The division sets no separate fine schedule, so the county's general penalty in Sec. 1-7 applies: a misdemeanor punishable in magistrate's court, or, alternatively, a civil penalty of up to $500.00, with each day the violation continues counted as a separate offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Anderson County always require leaks to be reported and fixed?
What happens if I get a leak notice and don't fix it in time?
Who decides when the county is in a drought serious enough to trigger this rule?
Does the county require its own water systems to look for leaks?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Anderson County
Compare Anderson County to another location·View the South Carolina water use rules overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.