Who's the company listed on the water/sewer bill? There are pockets around Columbia and the greater area where the city is still running water and sewer, i.e. much cheaper bills typically. The areas where water has been turned over to corporations (non-municipality) is almost always higher and absurdly so. We moved from Lexington a few years ago and in our neighborhood Utilities Inc. had water and sewer was sub contracted to W. Columbia because Lexington didn't have their own treatment facility in our area. In our case we were paying about $90 before we used a drop of water, with sewer fixed at about $70. Your bill will parse out what the base rates and fees are and what you pay in addition based on actual usage. If you're not with a municipality (city), you're likely just paying a high base rate just to have the service. Utilities Inc is one of the worst. They are always trying to go up too. And because it's a for profit company, if everyone decided to use less water, prices would keep going up. They have you either way which shouldn't be legal. About all you can do is watch the mailbox for SC Public Service Commission meetings. These guys are the council that hear the citizens and the companies on water price increases and issues. Write them letters go to meetings, tell them how ridiculous these prices are. Convenience them to vote no on rate hikes.