Lead Management Program

Our Lead Management Program: Ensuring Safety, Quality and Education

Following Michigan's tragic struggle with lead contamination in Flint's water source, we are reminded of the importance of water quality standards and the vital role that utilities play in their home communities - for public health, and for public education.

We take our promise to protect you and your water very seriously. Spartanburg Water can assure you that your drinking water exceeds all state and federal standards for clean drinking water, and for those that regulate and protect against lead in water systems.

Of course, all this talk about state and federal standards can get confusing. The real question on everybody's minds is this: Is our drinking water free of lead? The answer is a resounding yes.

Since the inception of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Lead and Copper Rule in 1991, Spartanburg Water has an unblemished record: We have never exceeded action levels for lead. But our commitment to safety and quality has a much longer history that extends beyond the 25 years since the EPA strengthened the regulations for monitoring lead. For many years prior to the implementation of the rule, Spartanburg Water employed technology to keep lead out of your water.

Our Lead Management Program is based on a multi-tiered strategy:

• Corrosion Control
• Maintaining a Team of Highly Skilled Water Professionals
• Customer Service
• Public Education

Spartanburg Water's stellar record is based on a strong, consistent history of exceeding rigorous water quality requirements for a variety of substances, including lead. In fact, our stringent monitoring demonstrates that lead levels are well below the criteria established by the EPA and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

We continuously monitor the quality of your water. In fact, we perform more than 250 tests each day to ensure that the water you drink is safe. This continuous monitoring validates the work of our dedicated team, and is evidenced by the fact that we are an active and award-winning member of the Partnership for Safe Water, a national volunteer initiative developed by an unprecedented alliance of six prestigious drinking water organizations: American Water Works Association, Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, Association of State Drinking Water Administrators, National Association of Water Companies, EPA, and the Water Research Foundation - all striving to provide communities with drinking water quality that surpasses the required federal standards. To that end, we recently won several awards that validate our success: The AWWA recently named our R.B. Simms and Landrum water treatment facilities as the recipients of its Partnership for Safe Drinking Water Directors Awards.

Corrosion Control

Spartanburg Water has no lead service lines in use, and our water does not contain lead when it leaves our treatment plants in Spartanburg and Landrum. In fact, lead is rarely found in source water, but can enter tap water through corrosion of plumbing materials in customers' homes. As part of our process to ensure the safety of our water and minimize the presence of lead, Spartanburg Water employs "corrosion inhibitors," a special technology that is applied in our drinking water treatment process. It helps form a protective coating on the walls of water pipes that prevents lead and copper from leaching out of pipes and plumbing fixtures and causing water quality issues, including the plumbing within our customers' homes.

We began installing copper water service lines in the late 1960s to the very early 1970s. Prior to the use of copper pipe, galvanized pipe was used from the water main to the meter. To make the connection between the water main and the galvanized pipe, a short section of lead pipe, known as a "gooseneck," was used to allow ease of bending and alignment to complete the connection. Thousands of "gooseneck" connections were replaced prior to the mid-1980s. While some are still in service, we replace "goosenecks" when water lines are rehabilitated and replaced.

We are confident that our best practice processes for lead control and reduction are effective. Spartanburg Water's corrosion control processes are successful in preventing lead from the entering the water. This is substantiated by our compliance record with the Lead and Copper Rule. Again, Spartanburg Water has never exceeded an action level for lead.

A Highly Skilled Team

Spartanburg Water employs highly skilled water professionals to ensure that each drop of water that reaches a customer's tap is of the highest quality. Water Treatment and Water Distribution Operators employed by Spartanburg Water go through rigorous training and licensure requirements to become certified in their chosen fields. Coupled with our experienced laboratory personnel and management staff, the community's water rests in the hands of experts who are committed to keeping our water safe. This team is consistently recognized by the industry for its skill, illustrated by the many awards and recognition that our staff receives annually, not only for compliance, but also for innovation. Our water professionals are one of Spartanburg County's greatest assets.

Click here to read about our most recent awards.

Public Education

Each year, we produce a Water Quality Report that provides the information you need as a consumer to understand how Spartanburg Water measures up to the standards set by the EPA and DHEC. That report provides you a comprehensive view of our record for meeting - and exceeding - water quality requirements and regulations, including those for the presence of lead in the water system. A big part of our commitment to the community is sharing information about our water and making it available to everyone, and we encourage you to review the report to see for yourself.

Here is a snapshot of our lead data, as featured in the Water Quality Report:

This data indicate that both Spartanburg and Landrum are in compliance with the Lead and Copper Rule and under the EPA's action levels for lead in the most recent reporting year for Water Quality data. The chart provides validation that both Spartanburg and Landrum systems are in compliance with the Lead and Copper Rule. Because we test for lead in customers' homes, a trace amount was detected in one of the 20 sampling locations at a customer's tap, but not in the water system, in Landrum. Despite this trace amount, both Spartanburg and Landrum water systems are in compliance with the Lead and Copper Rule.

The Lead and Copper Rule requires that all testing occurs in the most vulnerable locations, according to the EPA. Also, the rule maintains that we test for lead in customers' homes. Spartanburg Water operates two water systems, as defined by EPA and DHEC: one serving greater Spartanburg County, and one serving Landrum. The number of monitoring locations for each system is specified in the Lead and Copper Rule based on the population served by each system. Thus, in compliance with the Lead and Copper Rule, Spartanburg Water tests for lead in 50 homes in the Spartanburg service area, and 20 homes in Landrum every three years. In June, Spartanburg Water will begin its new round of sampling to ensure the safety of our water and to maintain our compliance with the Lead and Copper Rule.

Customer Service

Although lead has not been a common source material for water pipes since the early 1900s, many older homes may still be equipped with lead pipes. Upon request, Spartanburg Water will provide customers with a home testing kit and evaluate the water in its lab for free. There are also many ways for homeowners to keep their water free from lead, including letting your tap run for a few seconds to ensure that lead is washed out of your pipes. For more information, please visit http://www.epa.gov/dwreginfo/lead-and-copper-rule.

Our Promise

Spartanburg Water begins each day with a singular mission: To provide quality water and wastewater services to our region in a reliable manner. But, why? Because this is our water. It's the water that we all drink. It's the water that sustains us and unites us, our families and our community. Spartanburg Water is our water and we will stop at nothing short of excellence to protect it. So, is our water safe? Yes. And we hope that you'll share that message when you hear others ask the same question. Great things are on the horizon, and our future, with your help, is as clear as a tall, cold glass of Spartanburg Water.

Links for Additional Information:

• Spartanburg Water Quality Reports
• Environmental Protection Agency: Basic Information About Lead in Drinking Water
• Centers for Disease Control
• Green Bay Water Utility: How to Identify a Lead Service Line
• American Water Works Association

Lead: Frequently Asked Questions

Click each question for a drop-down box with the answer.