Should You Add a Second Water Meter in Laurens?

The problem a second meter solves

With one meter, CPW bills sewer on all the water that passes it. CPW's own page puts it plainly: you pay a sewer charge for indoor use plus watering the lawn, washing cars or filling a swimming pool, water that never enters the sewer system. In a Piedmont summer, a lawn and a vegetable garden can easily use more water than the house.

How CPW bills the second meter

CPW describes the program in three parts. Water through the second meter carries no sewer charge. The first 5,000 gallons a month on it are billed at the normal water rate. Anything above 5,000 gallons in a month is billed at one dollar less per thousand gallons than the normal rate. The table below copies those rules.

Who it makes sense for

The households that gain most are those that water heavily for several months a year: large lawns, in-ground irrigation, a pool that needs topping up, livestock troughs on a small farm inside the service area, or a big garden. If you only water a few flower beds, the savings may never cover the cost of the connection and plumbing.

Use your own numbers. Compare a winter month's gallons, when outdoor use is near zero, with a summer month's. The difference is roughly your outdoor use, and every gallon of it on the house meter is currently billed for sewer. The state survey line for the City of Laurens shows what a typical 5,000-gallon month costs for sewer alone.

What the plumbing involves

CPW says the second meter goes on your existing service line. On the customer side, a plumber connects the outdoor plumbing to the new meter and separates it from the house plumbing, so that outdoor spigots or irrigation zones draw only from the second meter and the house draws only from the first. Any cross-connection defeats the purpose and can create a backflow risk.

CPW's water page describes backflow prevention device testing and publishes a Backflow Device Test Report Form. Irrigation systems are a classic place for backflow devices; ask CPW and the plumber what device the new connection needs and whether it must be tested.

Permits and digging

Running a new line to outdoor spigots or an irrigation system is new plumbing work. Inside the City of Laurens, plumbing work beyond small repairs needs a permit and must be done by a contractor holding a South Carolina license. Trenching means an SC811 locate first, so buried electric, gas, water and sewer lines are marked. Private lines you installed yourself will not be marked.

See the city permit checklist for the fee table and inspection notice.

Questions to ask CPW

Ask CPW what the connection charge is for a second meter at your address, how long installation takes, whether the meter size can differ from the house meter, and how the second meter appears on the bill. CPW's page invites customers to call or visit the office to order one.

A worked comparison using your own bill

Take a summer bill and a winter bill from the same year. Subtract the winter gallons from the summer gallons; that is roughly your monthly outdoor use. On a single meter, every one of those gallons is billed at the water rate and again at the sewer rate. With a second meter, the sewer charge on those gallons disappears, the first 5,000 outdoor gallons are billed at the normal water rate, and anything above that is billed at one dollar per thousand less.

Multiply the outdoor gallons by the sewer rate from your CPW bill to see what you are paying for sewer on outdoor water each summer month, then multiply by the number of months you water heavily. Compare that yearly figure with the connection charge CPW quotes plus the plumber's price for separating the outdoor plumbing. If the payback is several years, it may still be worth it for a house you plan to keep; if it is decades, it is not.

Ask CPW to confirm the current water and sewer rates for your account before doing the math, since CPW publishes rates through customer service rather than on its web page.

Seasonal care for the outdoor line

An outdoor line on its own meter still needs winter care. Drain the irrigation system or blow it out before the first hard freeze, insulate the backflow device if it sits above ground, and disconnect hoses. CPW's freeze page reminds customers who did not drain their sprinkler system to check it for leaks in spring. A broken irrigation pipe on its own meter will not touch the sewer bill, but it still wastes water at the normal water rate until it is found.

Second meter checklist

Check your summer and winter gallons. Estimate outdoor use. Ask CPW for the connection charge. Get a plumber's price for separating outdoor plumbing, including any backflow device. Confirm the permit. Request an SC811 locate. After installation, watch both meters for a month to make sure the split is clean.

If high usage turns out to be a leak rather than watering, start with the high water bill checklist instead.

Figures on this page come from: Laurens Commission of Public Works: Additional Water Meter; Laurens Commission of Public Works: Water; Laurens Commission of Public Works: Wastewater; South Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority: 2026 Water and Sewer Rate Survey (PDF); SC811: South Carolina 811; City of Laurens Planning and Development: Do You Need a Permit? and FAQ. Checked 2026-10-29.