Water use in Lexington County is about equally divided between surface water and ground water. In 2003, 12 mgd (million gallons per day) were obtained from Lake Murray and the Saluda River, and about 11 mgd were obtained from wells, much of the latter for rural domestic use. The largest public-supply water system in the county is the city of West Columbia, which obtains its water from Lake Murray and the Saluda River. Surface-water quality is fair, with over 65 percent of the State-monitored water-quality stations meeting the guidelines for several types of uses; however, when water quality standards are not met, it has been predominately due to pH and fecalcoliform
bacteria infractions
