When we moved here, I spent an embarrassing amount of time staring at trash cans, wondering which company picked up what and who I was supposed to call about water. Turns out the answer depends on which side of which invisible line you live on. Here is the cheat sheet I wish someone had handed me.
Jesus, Editor at The CSRA Brief
First, the lines on the map matter more than the town name
Augusta and Richmond County are one government. They consolidated back in 1996, so there is no separate Augusta city hall and Richmond County courthouse fighting over your trash. One government, one set of services.
Evans looks like a city and acts like a city, but it is not one. It is an unincorporated community in Columbia County (about 34,500 people in the 2020 census), which means Columbia County is your government. Same for Martinez and Appling. Grovetown and Harlem are the county's actual incorporated cities.
Across the river, North Augusta is a real city with its own water, sewer, and trash departments. Most of Aiken County outside the cities is county territory.
Trash: four systems, know yours
Augusta (Richmond County): Coastal Waste & Recycling handles residential pickup across the whole service area as of August 1, 2025. Your collection day did not change. Missed pickup or a busted cart: call 311 or report it in the Augusta Trash & Recycling app. Curbside recycling is opt-in here. You sign up directly with Coastal for a quarterly fee and get a 95-gallon cart.
Columbia County (Evans, Martinez, Appling, Harlem): Heads up, this just changed. Ecowaste Solutions took over collection on October 1. Same pickup days, same carts, same routes, different trucks. You get two free large-item pickups a year (appliances, big furniture), then it is $10 an item. Yard waste goes out weekly in bags or bundles under 40 pounds. No pickup on six holidays, and they come the next day instead.
Grovetown: The city runs it. One container, $20.50 a month, emptied weekly. Pickup is Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday depending on your notice, cans out before 7 a.m. If you are 65 or older, ask for the reduced rate. It is not automatic.
North Augusta: Sanitation is a city service, billed with
Water and sewer: start here before moving day
Augusta: Augusta Utilities Department. Starting service takes an application, a photo ID, and either your deed or lease or a notarized letter from the property owner saying you live there. Get the Water Turn-On form to customer service by 2 p.m. One thing to know: the city is in the middle of a five-year, $35 million project replacing all 75,000 water meters (WRDW, June 2026), so if a crew knocks and shuts your water off for 15 minutes, that is probably why.
Columbia County: Columbia County Water Utility, 2140 William Few Pkwy in Grovetown, 706-863-6928, open weekdays 8 to 5.
Grovetown: The city runs its own water and sewer. Opening an account costs a $100 setup fee for homes ($200 for businesses), nonrefundable. Bills are due by the 10th each month. Water emergency after hours: 706-863-1212.
North Augusta: City water and sewer. Worth knowing: when PFAS turned up in some private wells near Pineview Estates, the city's own water tested clean, and North Augusta just secured an $800,000 grant to extend city water lines to those homes (Augusta Today, September 2026).
Power: you do not always get to choose
Most of the Georgia side is Georgia Power. In the rural stretches of Richmond, Columbia, Burke, and McDuffie counties, you may be in Jefferson Energy Cooperative territory instead. It is a member-owned co-op, which means you are technically a part-owner, not just a customer.
On the South Carolina side, North Augusta runs on Dominion Energy, and rural Aiken County is largely Aiken Electric Cooperative. South Carolina has not deregulated electricity, so there is no shopping around. Whoever serves your address is your provider. Check your closing paperwork or ask the listing agent be
The paperwork nobody warns you about
Property tax bills come from your county, not your town: the tax commissioner in Richmond and Columbia counties, the county treasurer in Aiken County. Car tags work the same way. In Georgia you register at your county tag office; in South Carolina it is the DMV. Do the tag and license within your first couple of months and save yourself the headache.
And the number to memorize: 911 is for emergencies everywhere. 311 is Augusta's non-emergency city services line. Missed trash, potholes, a streetlight out in Augusta: 311. Everywhere else, find your city or county's main line and save it in your phone now, before you need it.
By the numbers
75,000: water meters being replaced across Augusta in a $35 million, five-year modernization (WRDW, June 2026).
October 1: the day Columbia County's trash hauler switched to Ecowaste Solutions. Same routes, new trucks (September 2026).
$800,000: the grant North Augusta won to run city water to Pineview Estates homes after PFAS showed up in private wells (Augusta Today, September 2026).
Deeper reading: our Augusta town guide, and the free-things-in-Augusta guide if you are settling in on a budget.
Corrections: none this week. If we got something wrong, reply and we will fix it here next issue.fore you assume.your city utiliti**tes
