Midlands town announces water restrictions due to drought conditions
One Midlands town is asking residents to conserve water during the ongoing drought.
The town of Chapin announced Wednesday that the town is putting use restrictions for customers on its Amicks Ferry water system.
“This is due to extremely high water use demands that are occurring during the morning hours on this water system,” the town said in a Facebook post.
The restrictions are in place from 4:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m.
“During these hours, please conserve water where possible and do not use landscape sprinkler systems until later in the day, (unless you use lake water for irrigation),” the town said. “This issue is caused by the dry hot weather and we expect this restriction to be lifted at a later date as the weather and water use changes.”
The restrictions come amid an ongoing drought in South Carolina, which last month was upgraded from “moderate” to “severe.” The South Carolina Drought Response Committee said it would take months of above-average rainfall for the state to return to normal moisture levels.
One water conservation expert said at the time of the latest upgrade that the southern part of the state was “the driest that I’ve ever seen in my 50 years.”
Chapin previously announced similar restrictions in the summer of 2024, when another surge in early-morning water demand put a strain on the system.
Population growth has also strained the town’s resources, which is largely outside the town’s control since it serves customers outside the town limits, then-Chapin Town Administrator Nicholle Burroughs told The State during the last restriction period.
She said the town was looking for funding to improve its water infrastructure, which dates back to 1968.
“We are currently engineering a long-term solution for this problem,” the town said Wednesday. “We will issue another notice to announce the end of these restrictions as soon as possible.”
.jpg)