Laurens Water and Sewer Bills: How to Read Them and Compare

Who bills water and sewer in Laurens

Inside the City of Laurens, water and sewer come from the Laurens Commission of Public Works. The South Carolina General Assembly created the Commission in 1922 to run the utility separately from the city government, and today it sells electricity, natural gas, water and wastewater service on one bill. CPW's water page says a customer's rate depends on the size and type of service, and that current rates, fees and other charges are available from customer service.

Because one CPW bill can include electric, gas, water and sewer, CPW's own FAQ warns against comparing your total with a neighbor's or a relative's without matching the services. Compare the water and sewer lines, not the total.

What the state survey lists for the City of Laurens

Each year the South Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority surveys public water and sewer providers on what an inside-city residential customer pays for 5,000 gallons in a month. It is the most useful public yardstick, though RIA notes it relies on the forms providers send and may not reflect a change made after the survey. The 2026 survey lists the City of Laurens; the 2025 survey listed it too, which shows how much the typical bill moved in a year.

How sewer is charged

CPW's wastewater page explains that the amount of water you use determines the wastewater charge, because water coming into the house usually leaves through a drain to the sewer. That is why a running toilet or a leak shows up twice, once as water and once as sewer, and why watering a lawn through the house meter costs sewer on water that never reaches the plant.

CPW offers a second, separately metered connection for outdoor water so it is not billed for sewer. The irrigation meter checklist explains how that is billed.

How to read your meter

CPW's water page compares the meter register to a car odometer: subtract the previous reading from the current one to get the gallons used. Take a reading at night after the last use and again in the morning before anyone runs water. Any change means water is flowing somewhere, which is the start of the high water bill checklist.

Comparing with nearby providers

Laurens County has several water and sewer providers, and the RIA survey lists most of them. The table below shows the nearby lines from the 2026 survey. A low water figure paired with a high sewer figure, or the reverse, is common, so add the two together for a fair comparison. The providers page explains who serves which part of the county.

What the bill does not include

The survey figures and the CPW bill cover water and sewer service. They do not include anything on the customer's side of the meter. The service line from the meter to the house, the house plumbing and the sewer lateral from the house to the main are typically the owner's responsibility, and repairs there are paid to a plumber, not to CPW. Ask CPW where its responsibility ends at your address before a repair is planned.

Why bills change from year to year

Water and sewer rates in South Carolina are set locally, and most systems adjust them periodically to pay for treatment, pipe replacement and debt on past improvements. The RIA survey is a snapshot of what providers reported in a given year. Comparing the 2025 and 2026 lines for the City of Laurens shows a modest increase in both water and sewer for the same 5,000-gallon month.

Your own bill also changes with the seasons. Summer watering raises usage, and in a household on one meter, that outdoor water is also billed for sewer. Winter usually brings the lowest water usage of the year, which makes a winter month a good baseline. If a winter bill is unusually high, a leak is more likely than a change in habits, and the meter test is the next step.

When you call CPW with a billing question, have the account number, the dates of the bills you are comparing and any meter readings you took yourself. A written record makes the conversation shorter and more useful.

Reading a combined CPW bill

Because CPW bills electricity, natural gas, water and sewer together, the water and sewer lines can be easy to miss on a busy bill. Look for the water meter reading and gallons, the water charge and the sewer charge as separate lines. If you are on septic, there should be no sewer charge at all; if you see one, ask CPW to check the account. If you have a second meter for irrigation, it should appear with its own reading and no sewer charge.

CPW's FAQ also notes that monthly totals rise in summer and winter mainly because of heating and cooling, which has nothing to do with plumbing. Separating the lines keeps a plumbing question from getting lost in an energy question.

Rate checklist

Find the water and sewer lines on your CPW bill, not the total. Note the gallons used. Compare with the same month last year. Check the RIA survey line for your provider. If usage jumped, do a meter test. If you water a lot outdoors, ask CPW about a second meter. If you are building or connecting a new service, ask CPW for the current tap and connection charges in writing before work starts.

Figures on this page come from: Laurens Commission of Public Works: Water; Laurens Commission of Public Works: Wastewater; Laurens Commission of Public Works: Frequent Questions; South Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority: 2026 Water and Sewer Rate Survey (PDF); South Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority: Water and Sewer Rates; Laurens Commission of Public Works: Additional Water Meter. Checked 2026-10-29.