Columbia County is switching to a new water billing system starting April 28.
Nathan McDonald, deputy director of Water Utility Services, said the reason for the change is due to the age of the previous one, which was made in the late 70s.
“The newer software lets us tie into our computer system that we use for maintenance documentation and…lets us have better bills that show more information to the customers. It also just lets us be a little bit more efficient,” McDonald said.
When the switch happens, McDonald said there will be some minor office outages to help the staff prepare, but there will be no interruption to water service. In a letter sent out to residents, it provides a list of dates when those outages would happen. Those dates are:
- April 24-28: No online payments can be accepted
- April 24-April 25: Cash and check payments can be made in person
- April 24 -April 28: No in-office credit or debit car payments can be accepted
- April 28: Columbia County Water Utility Offices will be closed.
With the new system, McDonald said that customers with automatic payments shouldn’t have to do anything, everything should transfer over. He added that customers who do online pay also shouldn’t have to do anything, the information should just transfer over.
“If you go to log into our current online billing software, which is Paymentus, it will redirect you to a site called Silverblaze and there’s instructions there about how to reset your password,” McDonald said.
But McDonald recommended that all customers should check their bank accounts to make sure the payments have been processed on time.
Once the new billing system is live, customers will receive their new bill, which will look different and have the new billing number, McDonald said. For people who pay their bills with a physical check, he said for customers to make sure to write their new account numbers on the check.
But McDonald recommended that all customers should check their bank accounts to make sure the payments have been processed.
He added that after the system is live, the county will be putting out videos and a how to guide on how to use the new billing system.
If anyone has any questions, they can call the water utility department at 706-863-6928
