Saint Andrews Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Saint Andrews, South Carolina, in Richland County — an unincorporated Richland County community west of Columbia in the Lake Murray corridor, a western Columbia suburban area adjacent to Irmo and Lexington County — receives its municipal water from Columbia Water (City of Columbia Water and Utilities), which draws from Lake Murray (the Saluda River reservoir, one of the largest man-made lakes in the eastern US at the time of construction in 1930 by South Carolina Electric and Gas). Lake Murray is the primary water supply for metropolitan Columbia.

The moderately hard 110 mg/L hardness and TDS of 237.1 mg/L reflect Lake Murray's Saluda River watershed Piedmont geological character. Lake Murray impounds the Saluda River, which drains the South Carolina Piedmont — terrain underlain by the Greenville-Brevard Belt (Precambrian gneiss and schist of the Blue Ridge-Piedmont transition zone), the Carolina Slate Belt (Neoproterozoic metavolcanic rocks — low carbonate), and the Irmo-Columbia Belt granites. These crystalline Piedmont rocks have minimal carbonate content, but the Saluda watershed's moderate agricultural and developed land use in the Piedmont adds some dissolved minerals to the supply. The moderate hardness (110 mg/L) is typical for the Columbia metropolitan supply zone.

At 110 mg/L, Saint Andrews' water is moderately hard — scale builds in kettles and appliances over months, dishwashers benefit from rinse aid, and faucet aerators need periodic cleaning. Quarterly descaling is appropriate. The PFAS level of 6.1 ppt warrants a certified drinking water filter — the Columbia metro's military installations (Fort Jackson — US Army Training Center, a major AFFF user), Shaw AFB (F-16 wing in Sumter — significant PFAS source in the Broad-Saluda watershed upstream), and the Richland County industrial complex contribute to the Saint Andrews supply's PFAS background.