Sewage flooded this Lake Murray home. The owners say a city water utility is to blame
A couple is suing the city of Columbia after sewage flooded their Lake Murray home, according to a lawsuit filed this week in state circuit court in Richland County.
Sewage poured out of showers and backed up through toilets, flooding the first floor of Paul and Toni Merz’s Shore View Drive home on Lake Murray with detritus. The lawsuit, filed March 11, alleges that the sewage flood was caused by a main sewer line owned and maintained by the city of Columbia.
The Merzes’ home in the Irmo area is located nearly on the water along Lake Murray, and the pair have spent years improving the property, according to Lexington County records. The pair bought the property for $200,000 in 2015 from SCE&G, and then in 2016 built a home on the site. Now, the property is worth nearly $1 million, public records show.
Now, the Merzes are asking a jury to agree that the city was negligent in its maintenance of the sewage line, and to award the couple damages for the cost to clean and repair their property and as a consequence for the city’s alleged negligence.
The lawsuit also states that a city employee confirmed to the Merzes that the sewage backup was the “city’s issue,” and that the employee agreed it was the responsibility of Columbia Water.
Columbia-based attorney Bradley Hewett is representing the Merzes. Hewett did not immediately respond to a request for more information.
While the Merzes’ home is in Lexington County, it gets clean water from the city of Columbia, and Columbia Water also manages the wastewater system for the area, along with much of the area surrounding Columbia. In total, Columbia Water has roughly 400,000 customers between Richland and Lexington counties.
The city of Columbia declined to comment, saying the city does not comment on pending litigation.
This story was originally published March 13, 2025 at 12:54 PM.
