Water tested in the Town of Central, South Carolina has exceeded a federal drinking-water standard for disinfectant byproducts, triggering a state consent order that will keep the small Pickens County town under monitoring for four consecutive quarters. Town officials say the problem is not an emergency, and residents do not need to boil their water or switch to an alternative source.
The notice centers on elevated levels of total trihalomethanes, chemical compounds that form when chlorine used to disinfect water reacts with naturally occurring organic matter, according to WYFF. The South Carolina Department of Environmental Services tested vulnerable spots around town, including Old Shirley Road and Fond du Lac Drive, and found the Old Shirley Road site registered at .088 in June 2026 — above the .080 standard cited by Central Administrator Phillip Mishoe. Water treatment kills harmful germs but also creates these byproducts as a side effect, and exposure above acceptable levels over many years can raise the risk of kidney or liver problems, per the same report.
Federal rules set the actual compliance threshold, called the Maximum Contaminant Level, at 0.080 mg/L, or 80 parts per billion, but that figure isn't judged on a single test. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calculates compliance using a Locational Running Annual Average across four consecutive quarters, which is why Central landed under a consent order rather than facing an immediate boil-water emergency. When a system crosses an Operational Evaluation Level of 0.080 mg/L, federal regulations require it to examine its source water, treatment processes, and storage practices, then submit findings to the state within 90 days.
A Regional Supply Chain Complicates Local Fixes
Central doesn't treat its own raw water. According to the town's own consumer confidence reports, Central receives treated drinking water through distribution connections with the City of Clemson, which in turn purchases water wholesale from the Anderson Regional Joint Water System. That means the chemical disinfection itself happens upstream, long before the water reaches Central's local pipes — leaving town officials with control mainly over how water moves once it arrives.
Mishoe, who also serves on the Anderson Regional Joint Water System's Board of Commissioners alongside representatives of 13 other wholesale utilities across Pickens and Anderson counties, said increasing the frequency of line flushing probably would have prevented the elevated reading. But he added he wasn't completely convinced the issue could have been avoided altogether, since the testing period came during very hot weather. Mishoe said hot weather can affect byproduct levels.
Weekly Flushing at Testing Sites
Central now flushes its testing sites once a week, a routine maintenance step. Old Shirley Road sits in exactly that kind of vulnerable spot — water there can travel up to three miles through 8-inch and 10-inch mains from a single tank on Highway 93.
The flushing appears to be working. A test conducted a couple of weeks before publication measured the level at .082, and Mishoe said levels are trending in the right direction. He said he expects water levels to fall below the unacceptable threshold by next quarter if the town's current actions continue, and that the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services will likely test Central again in October or November, giving the town 24 hours' notice before sampling begins.
New Agency Oversight, Statewide Pattern
The consent order is being handled by the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services. Central is addressing the elevated trihalomethane levels with line flushing.
The town will remain under the consent order for all four quarters, with officials saying it will be lifted once water levels remain consistently within acceptable limits. Whether the upcoming SCDES test in October or November shows enough of a drop in the running average to keep Central on pace to exit the order in 2027 remains to be seen.
