Richland County leaders gathered behind a fire station in Gadsden Monday morning to unveil a brand-new water tower, a 300,000-gallon tank county officials say is meant to shore up water service along Congaree Road. The ribbon-cutting took place at 10 a.m. behind Columbia-Richland Fire Department Station 19, marking a visible new addition to the rural community's skyline and its infrastructure.
According to WIS News 10, the project is expected to improve both water service and fire protection in Gadsden. The station reports that the tower will support 24 fire hydrants in the area, and that the McEntire Joint National Guard Base is expected to be covered by the new tower as well.
Residents Call It a Needed Upgrade
The new tower was described as a needed addition by multiple Gadsden residents, the station's report notes. Resident Cheryl English said the project brings tangible benefits for emergency response in the area, telling the outlet, “this tower will provide access for fire department, public safety and also more fire hydrants.”
Still, English made clear the community's infrastructure wish list isn't finished. “The next thing that we're still working on is sewage,” she said, per the same account, signaling that water access is only part of what Gadsden residents have been pushing county leaders to address.
Part of a Longer Push in Southeast Richland
Monday's unveiling lands amid a broader, years-long effort to modernize utilities in Southeast Richland County. Back in 2020, county officials described a $24.2 million Southeast Richland County Sewer and Water Expansion Project that had broken ground that April, with Richland County reporting the work was “taking shape along several streets” six months in. By January 2021, the county said the project's first phase was on track for completion that summer, with crews installing water and sewer lines across four sections of the area, according to a separate county update.
Separately, a Richland County bid notice posted on the state's procurement site sought contractors for 3,450 linear feet of 16-inch ductile iron water main, along with fire-hydrant replacements, water-service connections, and two sanitary sewer manhole rim adjustments, according to South Carolina Business Opportunities. It is not established whether that bid notice is tied to the Gadsden tower unveiled Monday.
Hydrant and water-main upgrades of this kind aren't unique to Richland County. In Walterboro, South Carolina, a separate water and sewer project includes roughly 5,036 linear feet of new 6-inch water mains and seven fire hydrants along Gadsden Loop and Jackson Road, according to ConstructConnect project records — a reminder that rural water-system buildouts are an ongoing need across the state.
For now, Gadsden residents have a new tower standing behind Station 19 and a clearer path to fire hydrant coverage, including for the McEntire Joint National Guard Base. What remains, by English's own account, is the sewage work the community has yet to see finished.
