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Grand Strand W&Sa/Bull Creek

What EPA’s and South Carolina’s records show in this utility’s water: PFAS and lithium; nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals; lead and copper; and violations since 2016, with the certification that handles each result.

Serves
252,840 people
Connections
108,645
Water source
Surface water
Based in
Conway, SC
County
Horry
Owner
Local government
The 18 ZIP codes it serves

29511, 29526, 29527, 29544, 29545, 29563, 29565, 29566, 29568, 29569, 29571, 29574, 29575, 29576, 29577, 29579, 29581, 29588

The short answer

2 results are above EPA’s new limit, which takes effect in 2029, 1 more is above the health goal, and 1 more is above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: PFOS, above EPA’s new limit (2029). No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

PFAS and lithium: EPA UCMR 5, samples taken from July 17, 2023 to May 20, 2024.

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2008 to 2026.

Fluoride, haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM), nitrate, arsenic and chromium (total): South Carolina’s own results, samples taken from Jan. 22, 2020 to July 23, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Uranium: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Nov. 27, 2012 to Feb. 13, 2013. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

PFAS: PFOS, PFOA and PFBS were found, of the six PFAS in EPA’s 2024 drinking water rule; their results are below. Four other PFAS with no federal limit were found, the highest PFPeA at 11.8 ppt: see them below.

EPA’s 2024 PFAS rule, compound by compound

PFASEPA’s limitResult
PFOA4.0 pptAbove EPA’s new limit (2029)11.4 ppt highest, found in 9 of 20 samples. Details
PFOS4.0 pptAbove EPA’s new limit (2029)11.5 ppt highest, found in 9 of 20 samples. Details
PFHxS10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 20 samples, below 3 ppt
PFNA10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 20 samples, below 4 ppt
HFPO-DA (GenX)10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 20 samples, below 5 ppt
PFBSIndex onlyBelow EPA’s limits5.6 ppt highest, found in 7 of 20 samples. Details
Hazard IndexPFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA and PFBS together1Doesn’t applyDoesn’t apply: no sampling location found two or more of the four
Results from EPA’s UCMR 5 sampling. “Below” is the lab’s reporting level: a result under it reads as not found, which is not the same as zero. The limits are EPA’s 2024 rule, with compliance due from 2029; EPA has since proposed changes to some of them, explained on each compound’s page. PFBS has no limit of its own and counts only toward the Hazard Index, which adds up the four, each against EPA’s health-based level, from each sampling location’s average, as EPA’s UCMR 5 summary does. It counts only where two or more of the four were found, and is above the limit from 1.5.

About PFAS certifications

NSF’s PFAS claims are tested to below 20 ppt. EPA’s limit is 4.0 ppt, and EPA says no certification yet shows a filter reaching its levels.

Above EPA’s new limit, which takes effect in 20292

PFOS

Comes from the source

Above EPA’s new limit (2029)

11.5ppt

Highest sample, July 17, 2023; found in 9 of 20

The highest sample was 11.5 ppt, about 2.9 times EPA’s new limit of 4.0 ppt, which takes effect in 2029. EPA’s health goal is zero. Compliance will be judged on a running annual average, not one sample. Averaged by sampling location, as EPA compares its UCMR 5 results with the limit, the highest was 4.4 ppt, also above it.

What handles it

PFOA

Comes from the source

Above EPA’s new limit (2029)

11.4ppt

Highest sample, Oct. 3, 2023; found in 9 of 20

The highest sample was 11.4 ppt, about 2.9 times EPA’s new limit of 4.0 ppt, which takes effect in 2029. EPA’s health goal is zero. Compliance will be judged on a running annual average, not one sample. Averaged by sampling location, as EPA compares its UCMR 5 results with the limit, the highest was 4.2 ppt, also above it.

What handles it

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

0.51ppb

90th percentile, 2024 to 2026

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 0.51 ppb, below EPA’s action level of 15 ppb. The action level drops to 10 ppb on Nov. 1, 2027. EPA’s health goal for lead is zero.

What handles it

Above EPA’s health benchmark1

Lithium

Comes from the source

Above EPA’s health benchmark

30.1ppb

Highest sample, July 17, 2023; found in 9 of 23

The highest sample was 30.1 ppb, about 3 times EPA’s health reference level of 10 ppb. That is a screening level, not an enforceable limit.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Below EPA’s limits5

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

2.7ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 1.1 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.7 ppm, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 3.7 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 1.1 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.2 ppm, in 2019.

What handles it

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

32.7ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 15.3 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 32.7 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 52.8 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its 36 samples averaged 15.3 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 42.6 ppb, in 2015.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

35.4ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 22.9 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 35.4 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 63.8 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its 36 samples averaged 22.9 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 41.2 ppb, in 2015.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

1.2ppm

Highest sample; found in 24 of 44

2026 average: 0.42 ppm

The highest sample, in 2021, was 1.2 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its six samples averaged 0.42 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 1.7 ppm, in 2013.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”

PFBS

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

5.6ppt

Highest sample, Oct. 3, 2023; found in 7 of 20

The highest sample was 5.6 ppt, below EPA’s hazard index benchmark of 2,000 ppt. PFBS has no legal limit or health goal of its own.

What handles it

South Carolina utilities above EPA’s PFAS limits

Also found, with no federal limit

EPA measured these PFAS to learn how often they occur. None has a legal limit or a health goal yet.

CompoundHighest sampleFound inCertification claim
PFPeA11.8 ppt9 of 20None covers it
PFHxA7.2 ppt9 of 20None covers it
PFBA7.2 ppt5 of 20None covers it
PFHpA4.8 ppt7 of 20NSF/ANSI 53: Total PFAS Reduction
25 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.

From routine monitoring

  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • Uranium

PFAS and lithium, from EPA’s UCMR 5 sampling

  • 11Cl-PF3OUdS
  • 4:2 FTS
  • 6:2 FTS
  • 8:2 FTS
  • 9Cl-PF3ONS
  • ADONA
  • HFPO-DA (GenX)
  • NEtFOSAA
  • NFDHA
  • NMeFOSAA
  • PFDA
  • PFDoA
  • PFEESA
  • PFHpS
  • PFHxS
  • PFMBA
  • PFMPA
  • PFNA
  • PFPeS
  • PFTA
  • PFTrDA
  • PFUnA

What handles it

A certification covers specific claims, not a whole standard. Look for these claims on the certifier’s listing, not the box. Wording varies a little: NSF writes “Lead Reduction,” WQA just “Lead.”

  • NSF/ANSI 53

    Claims: PFOS Reduction, PFOA Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: PFOS, PFOA, Lead

    Other certifiers’ wording: Total PFAS Reduction; Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS); Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA)

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS), Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA), Lead Reduction

    For: PFOS, PFOA, Lead

At the tap, or for the whole house?

Lead and copper usually come from pipes and fixtures inside or near your home. A whole-house system sits where water enters, so it cannot catch what your own plumbing adds after it. For those, the filter that counts is the one at the tap. How whole-house systems compare.

Filters with those claims on a certifier’s listing

Disclosure: TapBuff earns a commission if you buy through some links on this page. It does not change which standard or filter we name. As an Amazon Associate, TapBuff earns from qualifying purchases. How TapBuff makes money

Compare five-year costs

The best water filters for PFAS, ranked

The best water filters for lead, ranked

Disinfectant

Grand Strand W&Sa/Bull Creek reported adding chloramine before water enters its pipes, at all 7 of its sampling points, in its 2023 to 2024 sampling for EPA.

Chloramine is chlorine combined with ammonia. It lasts longer in the pipes, and unlike chlorine, it doesn’t leave water that sits out. A filter’s chlorine claim doesn’t cover it: look for the separate chloramine claim under NSF/ANSI 42. No shower filter can carry one: NSF/ANSI 177, the shower filter standard, covers free chlorine only. Fish, turtles and frogs need it removed from their water. This is what the utility reported for that sampling. Its annual water quality report says what it uses now.

Chlorine vs. chloramineFilters with a chloramine claimShower filters, by what their listings cover

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Fluoride, haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM), nitrate, arsenic and chromium (total) results here are South Carolina’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Uranium comes from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Grand Strand W&Sa/Bull Creek’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has newer results for those and the contaminants this page does not show.

  • Your own plumbing. Lead results are the 90th percentile across homes the utility samples. Your home’s service line, solder and fixtures decide yours. A certified lab test is the only way to know.

  • What it means for your health. This page reports what the records show and EPA’s limits and goals; it is not medical advice. If you are worried about a health effect, talk to a doctor or your local health department.

  • Anything after the latest data. SDWIS data is from 2026 Q3; UCMR 5 samples are from July 17, 2023 to May 20, 2024; South Carolina’s results run from Jan. 22, 2020 to July 23, 2026; EPA’s compliance samples are from Nov. 27, 2012 to Feb. 13, 2013.

Testing your own tap

Grand Strand W&Sa/Bull Creek’s results are for the water it sends out. What your own service line, solder and fixtures add shows up only in a test of your tap, by a lab South Carolina certifies.

The 3 labs South Carolina certifies closest to the area Grand Strand W&Sa/Bull Creek serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Environmental Systems Testing Services LLC

    Conway, SC · about 10 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (843) 347-7688

  • FMU Freshwater Ecology Center

    Florence, SC · about 43 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (843) 661-4470

  • Davis & Brown Inc.

    Florence, SC · about 44 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics

    (843) 665-6746

All 36 certified labs for South Carolina

Sources

PWSID SC2620004. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

And 4 more.

Nearby

All South Carolina utilities

What to do next