Myrtle Beach water at a glance
- Water utility
- Grand Strand Water & Sewer Authority (GSWSA), delivered through the City of Myrtle Beach
- Hardness
- About 54 mg/L (roughly 3 grains per gallon), classified soft (City of Myrtle Beach)
- Source
- The Intracoastal Waterway, fed by the Waccamaw and Pee Dee rivers, treated at GSWSA's Myrtle Beach plant (GSWSA)
- Disinfection
- Chloramine, GSWSA's primary disinfectant since 1993 (GSWSA)
- Private wells
- Common in unincorporated Horry County outside utility service areas
Which utility serves your home?
Around Myrtle Beach, water comes from several utilities:
- City of Myrtle Beach serves homes inside city limits, with water supplied by GSWSA.
- Grand Strand Water & Sewer Authority (GSWSA) serves much of unincorporated Horry County.
- City of North Myrtle Beach serves North Myrtle Beach, which buys part of its water 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.
How hard is Myrtle Beach water?
Hardness in Myrtle Beach homes
Myrtle Beach city water comes from GSWSA, and the City of Myrtle Beach reports it at about 54 mg/L of hardness, which is soft. For most homes on city water, a softener is not the first fix for spotty glasses or a crusty shower head. Evaporated minerals and dissolved solids can leave marks even on soft water, and a quick test tells the two apart.
Softeners pay off around Myrtle Beach on private wells. Homes outside utility service draw from groundwater, which picks up calcium, magnesium and iron from coastal plain soils and can test far harder than the city supply. If you are on a well anywhere in unincorporated Horry County, test before you buy anything.
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 Myrtle Beach
We test homes across Myrtle Beach, Carolina Forest, Socastee, Forestbrook and Surfside Beach.
Sources
- City of Myrtle Beach: treated tap water classified as soft
- GSWSA: Myrtle Beach Water Treatment Plant (Intracoastal Waterway source, ozone treatment)
- GSWSA: chloramine FAQ (chloramine is the primary disinfectant, since 1993)
- SCDES: well water quality testing services
Frequently asked questions
Is Myrtle Beach water hard?
The City of Myrtle Beach reports its treated water, supplied by GSWSA, averages about 54 mg/L of hardness, which is classified as soft. Private wells vary, so testing shows your actual level.
Should a Myrtle Beach vacation rental have a water softener?
Only if testing shows hard water. On soft city water, a carbon filter for taste or a reverse osmosis tap for guests' drinking water is usually the better spend.
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.