Conway water at a glance
- Water utility
- City of Conway, which buys its water from GSWSA
- Source
- Bull Creek, an arm of the Great Pee Dee River, treated at GSWSA's Bull Creek plant (GSWSA)
- Disinfection
- Chloramines, with a routine yearly switch to free chlorine while lines are flushed (City of Conway)
- Hardness
- Listed in the city's annual water quality report; your test measures your own tap
- Private wells
- Common outside city limits and across western Horry County
Which utility serves your home?
Around Conway, water comes from several utilities:
- City of Conway serves homes inside city limits, with water purchased from GSWSA.
- Grand Strand Water & Sewer Authority (GSWSA) serves much of western Horry County, including areas around Aynor and Green Sea.
- Town of Loris serves Loris, supplied from GSWSA's Bull Creek plant.
Check your water bill to see which one serves you. Each publishes its own annual water quality report, and our test measures what actually reaches your tap.
Hardness in Conway
Conway's city water comes from GSWSA's Bull Creek plant, which treats surface water from an arm of the Great Pee Dee River. The same plant supplies Little River, Loris and part of North Myrtle Beach. Hardness is listed in the City of Conway's annual water quality report, and our test measures it at your tap in minutes.
Many homes around Conway and Aynor sit outside city service on private wells. Wells are where hardness and iron are most likely to call for a softener or a combined iron and softening system.
Signs worth testing for
White crust on faucets, spots on glassware, soap that won't lather and scale in the water heater can all point to hard water, but dissolved solids and detergent residue cause similar marks. We measure both before recommending anything.
What a softener does, and doesn't
A softener trades calcium and magnesium for sodium or potassium and is sized to your hardness and household water use. It does not remove chlorine, chloramine, PFAS or lead; those need carbon filtration or reverse osmosis. How water softeners work.
What happens at your free test
Your free test measures hardness, chlorine or chloramine, iron, pH and total dissolved solids at your tap, and you keep the written report. We recommend a softener only if your results call for it. How the free test works.
See typical installed prices in our water softener cost guide.
Where we work around Conway
We test homes across Conway, Aynor, Loris and the rest of western Horry County.
Sources
- GSWSA: Bull Creek Water Treatment Plant
- GSWSA: chloramine FAQ (chloramine is the primary disinfectant, since 1993)
- GSWSA: March 2026 flushing and free-chlorine notice, western Horry County
- City of Conway: annual switch from chloramines to free chlorine
- SCDES: well water quality testing services
Frequently asked questions
Is Conway water hard?
Conway buys its water from GSWSA, which treats it at the Bull Creek plant. Hardness is listed in the city's annual water quality report, and homes on private wells can test much harder than city water. Private wells vary, so testing shows your actual level.
Does the yearly chlorine switch affect my softener?
No. The yearly switch from chloramines to free chlorine changes taste and smell, not hardness, and a softener does not remove either disinfectant.
Will a water softener fix chlorine or chloramine taste?
No. Softeners exchange hardness minerals and do not remove disinfectants. Carbon filtration, with catalytic carbon for chloramine, or reverse osmosis handles taste and odor.