Are There Grants for Well Drilling in South Carolina?
Only a few, and they are narrow. Well drilling grants in South Carolina do not pay for a well for anyone who asks. The help that exists is based on income. It is for people who already own and live in a rural home.
Two programs are the ones to know. One is USDA Rural Development’s Section 504 Home Repair program. The other is the Water Well Trust, a nonprofit that funds wells for low-income homeowners. Both programs leave out new construction. If you are building on new land, plan for well drilling as part of the build.
Can a grant pay for a well on a new house?
No. The federal rule for Section 504, 7 CFR 3550.102, says its money cannot help build a new dwelling. The Water Well Trust rules out new construction too. You must have lived in the home for at least one year.
So a family building on rural land plans for the well like the foundation or the roof. It is part of the cost of the house. Our guide to what a well costs in South Carolina covers what drives that number.
What does the USDA Section 504 program cover?
Section 504 lends to low and very-low-income owners to repair, improve or modernize the rural home they live in. Grants are tighter. They go only to owners 62 or older under the county’s very low income limit. Grant money must go to removing health and safety hazards.
| Program piece | What USDA says |
|---|---|
| Most you can borrow | $40,000 |
| Loan rate and term | Fixed at 1% for 20 years |
| Most you can get as a grant | $10,000 in total, counting every Section 504 grant you ever get |
| Who can get a grant | Owners 62 or older under the very low income limit |
| Loan and grant together | Up to $50,000 |
| If you sell the home | The grant is repaid if you sell in less than 3 years |
To qualify, you must own the house and live in it. You must be unable to get credit you can afford elsewhere. USDA’s eligibility site lets you enter a specific address to see whether it counts as rural.
Applications go through the local USDA Rural Development office, and USDA takes them year round. How long a decision takes depends on funding in your area.
Does a dry or failed well count as a health and safety hazard?
That is the local USDA office’s call. USDA’s field handbook for the program defines what a hazard is. It is a property condition that puts the health or safety of the occupants at risk. When funding runs short, applications with hazards such as unsafe water or a failed septic system go first. That list does not mention a dry well.
The federal rule, 7 CFR 3550.102, allows one more use. Loan and grant money may cover reasonable connection fees or installation costs for utilities such as water. That can matter if public water already reaches your road.
Before you apply for anything, make sure the well is the problem. A house with no water sometimes has a bad pump or a tripped breaker, and the well itself is fine. Our no water from well checklist lists what to check first, and well pump repair covers the fix. If the well has gone dry, the state’s advice is to call a well driller.
What is the Water Well Trust, and who can apply?
The Water Well Trust is a 501(c)(3) created by the Water Systems Council. It and the groups it works with fund wells and septic systems for low-income homeowners nationwide. It serves families whose wells no longer work properly or are contaminated, and families with no well.
Its website lists rules you must meet, all of them:
- The deed and property taxes are in your name.
- The home is your primary residence.
- USDA counts the address as rural.
- The home is not new construction, and you have lived there at least one year.
- You have no reliable source of water and no option to connect to a public water utility.
- Your household income is measured against the state’s median non-metropolitan household income.
The application starts on the Water Well Trust’s website.
USDA also backs this kind of help through nonprofits. Its Rural Decentralized Water Systems Grant Program pays grants to nonprofits. Those groups then lend to people who own and live in a home in an eligible rural area. The loans can build, fix or service a household water well. USDA lists the terms as a 1% fixed rate, up to 20 years and up to $15,000 per household.
USDA’s fiscal 2024 grantee list for that program includes the Water Well Trust. It also lists the Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project (SERCAP), with South Carolina in its service area.
Did South Carolina ever have a well loan program?
Yes, and it is dated history. In 2016, USDA awarded a $140,000 matching grant to the Water Well Trust for a South Carolina project. The money funded long-term, low-interest loans for new or improved water wells. The project reached 19 rural counties, including Spartanburg, Cherokee, Union and Laurens.
A Water Well Trust release dated October 30, 2017 added Chester County. Household income then had to be at or under 100% of the state’s median non-metropolitan household income. Treat all of that as 2016 and 2017 news. For what is open today, check the Water Well Trust’s website.
How do you plan for the cost of a well?
Start with a real number. Before we schedule a job, we do a site survey to help pick the best spot for the well. Then you get a written estimate with a quoted minimum depth. The state requires casing set to bedrock. No one can know ahead of time exactly how deep hard bedrock sits, so the estimate quotes a minimum.
That estimate gives your family a number to plan around. It helps whether you pay on your own or look into a program first. Every new home well also needs an SCDES permit. The state fee is $70 for each individual residential well, a state number and not our price. Our post on the well permit in South Carolina covers that step.
We are based in Pacolet, working the Upstate about 60 miles around Spartanburg. To plan a new or replacement well, call (864) 768-5688 for a free estimate.