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Midlands House Walk
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Water where it shouldn't bePipes that might be oldA freeze is coming (AI picture)After a floodA smell you can't placeWho to call and what they needWhose water, town by townEvery picture on the walk

At the street, stop 5 of 6

Before you dig near a line: SC811

Before you dig in South Carolina, file with SC811 at least three business days ahead, not counting the filing day, weekends or holidays1. It is free and covers a project of any size. Ask whether private lines, like the water line across your yard, will be marked.

Stand where the shovel would go, and list everything you can see from there: meter box, cleanout cap, septic lid.

Updated , Midlands House Walk

If a shovel hits a line and you smell gas or propane, or a power line is struck, walk away from the house and the hole first. Touch no switches and make no calls from inside. Once you’re outside and clear, call 911 and the gas company or propane supplier.

Colored spray marks on pavement with small flags stuck in grass at a corner
Red, orange and yellow paint with small flags by a street corner in Washington State. Marks like these may appear on your street after you file.
Blank blue and red flags in a row with a faded paint line across a lawn
A row of locate flags and a faded paint line across a front lawn. Mowers knock these over, so leave them up and mow around. AI-generated picture.

Flags across the lawn

Look for
Walk the flagged line and compare it with your planned hole. If you can’t tell what a color stands for, ask SC811 or the locator.
What it tells you
A mark means a line was located there. No mark doesn’t mean there is no line, so don’t treat bare grass as clear.
Green plastic lid flush with the grass near a sidewalk, brick ranch house behind
A meter box in a front lawn. Pick out yours and picture a line from it to where the water enters the house. AI-generated picture.

Lines that may stay unmarked

Look for
Find the meter box and the place the water enters the house. Do the same from the cleanout toward the street.
What it tells you
In Columbia Water’s area, the line from meter to house and the sewer up to the property line are the homeowner’s2. Private lines may not be marked, so ask when you file1.
Closed green round lid in thin grass and pine straw, pines in the background
A closed septic riser lid in a sandy yard with pine straw. A lid tells you the tank is close, and the field lies somewhere beyond it. AI-generated picture.

Septic in the way

Look for
On septic, find the tank and work out the likely field before you plan a fence, a trench or a tree.
What it tells you
Clemson says not to drive, dig, build or plant deep-rooted plants over a septic system3. Don’t count on locators to show it. Ask.

Does a small job count?

Yes. SC811 applies to a project of any size1, so a fence post or a shrub counts the same as a trench.

Yours to do

  • File with SC811 at least three business days before you start1.
  • Wait for the marks and keep them visible until the job is finished.
  • Sketch your own private lines from what you can see, and keep the sketch with the house papers.
  • Move a new tree if it lands near a sewer line. Roots are slow, but they get there.

For a licensed pro

  • Finding private lines. Ask a plumber whether they can trace yours, or who can.
  • Repairing a water or sewer line you’ve hit on your side of the meter or property line.
  • Anything struck that belongs to a utility goes straight to that utility.

A short film for this stop

A homeowner tells how moving a small mailbox nicked a gas pipe and shut down the block, and why a free 811 call comes first; in South Carolina, allow at least three business days. From Pacific Gas & Electric, an outside channel; it loads from YouTube only when you press play.

Where this comes from

  1. SC811, homeowners
  2. Columbia Water new customer guide
  3. Clemson HGIC, Be Septic Safe: locating and basic maintenance
Keep walkingBoil water advisory or notice: what the words mean