Independent U.S. water utility directory · 2026 edition
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Delinquency and service protection

Understand the shut-off process before it reaches your door

The safest time to ask about a past-due balance, payment arrangement, or hardship protection is before the final notice. This page translates the provider’s published rules into a practical checklist.

Notice and timing

How delinquency is handled

Grace period after the due date

15 days after the billing date; the current rate page states monthly-in-arrears charges become past due 15 days after billing.

Late-fee calculation

BCWS lists a $10 late-payment charge for a delinquent account and a $30 returned-check or returned-ACH charge. If water service is processed for nonpayment, a $40 late-payment processing fee applies; if sewer service is processed to be plugged, the processing fee is $100. Personal checks may be refused for 12 months after a returned check.

Disconnection timeline

BCWS says there is no separate past-due notice: the bill itself is the only notification that service is subject to disconnection if the previous balance is not paid by the stated date. Water is restored the same workday when payment and the $40 processing fee are received before 2:00 p.m.; the reviewed pages do not publish a fuller calendar from delinquency to field shutoff.

Statutory warning protocol

What notice should you expect?

The bill itself serves as the delinquency and possible-disconnection notification; BCWS expressly says there will not be a separate past-due notice. For public-health emergencies, BCWS uses door hangers, local news, its website, phone system, electronic signs and direct calls/emails/texts when contact information is current.

If a notice seems wrong

Document the account balance, payment confirmation, notice date, and any household medical or accessibility concern. Then call the provider using the contact information on its official bill or profile before the stated deadline.

Restoring service

Reconnection costs and timing

Water restoration is available the same workday when the payment and $40 processing fee are received before 2:00 p.m. The reviewed BCWS rate page does not publish a separate after-hours restoration fee or a distinct sewer reconnection fee; after-hours emergencies are routed to 843-572-4400.

Need a payment arrangement?

Ask before the shut-off date

Tell the customer-service representative that you are responding to a delinquency notice and ask specifically about installment plans, hardship protection, charity referrals, and the amount required to stop the disconnection order.

Customer protection guide

What to do when a bill becomes urgent

A delinquency notice from Berkeley County Water & Sanitation (BCWS) should be treated as a time-sensitive account document. Read the exact due date, amount required, notice method, and contact instructions on the notice, then compare them with the provider details in this guide.

If you have already paid, gather the confirmation number and posting date. If you cannot pay the full amount, call before the stated shut-off date and ask about arrangements, hardship protections, agency referrals, and the minimum amount needed to pause action.

Keep the conversation specific: ask what will stop the order, when the payment must post, whether a reconnection fee applies, and whether the utility requires a separate request for medical, accessibility, or household-protection status.

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