Granville County residents wait for clear water, but short-term solutions are scarce

Residents of southern Granville County have become used to smelly and discolored water. 

2025-07-25

“It does have a brownish tint,” resident Darryl Moss told WRAL. “It's got that kind of musty odor to it, kind of an earthy smell.”

WRAL went to the water company and the city of Creedmoor directly to identify solutions.

City records show elevated levels of iron and manganese were found in the water, which can impact the smell and taste of the water. However, according to the EPA, these contaminants are not health-threatening.

Is Creedmoor water safe?

The levels of both metals exceeded the EPA’s secondary water quality standards for aesthetic and cosmetic purposes in some neighborhoods. The EPA does not enforce these secondary standards.

“[The appearance and smell of the water] may cause a great number of people to stop using water from their public water system even though the water is actually safe to drink,” according to the EPA. “Secondary standards are set to give public water systems some guidance on removing these chemicals to levels that are below what most people will find to be noticeable.”

Mayor Pro Tempore Edward Gleason said the metals were discovered when the city tested the water over the past four months.

WRAL obtained those records, which acknowledge side effects like staining from iron and headaches, insomnia and even nervous-system disorders from manganese.

Another concern: PFAs.

What is the water company doing to address water concerns?

In 2022, state tests found PFAs, or forever chemicals, in the water. The toxic, cancer-causing chemicals have plagued water systems across North Carolina and the entire country.

The Environmental Protection Agency gave the water company, South Granville Water and Sewer Authority, a 2029 deadline to mitigate forever chemicals in the water.

The water company services about 6,500 households in Butner, Stem and Creedmoor.

“We are being very aggressive with removal of PFAS from our water supply,” SGWASA executive director Scott Schroyer told WRAL.

He shared several plans to improve the water quality, including a pilot program to identify the best way to filter out harmful chemicals. He said the pilot program is expected to be complete by the beginning of August. 

“It was a project that came down to us without a whole lot of warning quite honestly,” Schroyer said.

SGWASA expects to spend $26 million in order to upgrade its infrastructure and get into compliance. The company has secured a $5 million grant and $500,000 state grant.

As of July, Schroyer said the company received 14 complaints about the water. That’s on pace to match the number of complaints in 2024. It’s a slight uptick compared to the past 5 years. However, the number of complaints is far fewer than the 90 complaints the company received in 2016.

“Most of our trend is rusty water, discolored water in the area, off color, not clear type of water, and usually that's caused by the sediment that's stirred up in the pipes,” Schroyer explained.

Resident mistrust turns to action

“It’s bad enough that we have to wash our clothes and dishes, brush our teeth, and bathe in this water. But we shouldn’t have to drink it!” a Change.org petition reads.

More than 200 people signed the virtual petition.

Residents have taken matters into their own hands, asking Creedmoor city leaders to consider buying water filters for households and businesses.

“By distributing filters designed to remove contaminants, we can at least guarantee the safety of our drinking water while longer-term infrastructure improvements are developed,” the petition reads.

Resident Darryl Moss also signed the petition. The Creedmoor native served in city government for nearly three decades as a commissioner and as mayor.

During his time as mayor, WRAL interviewed Moss about an agreement he made with SGWASA in 2013 to increase sewer capacity. That’s a signature he now says he regrets.

Three years after leaving office in 2017, he said he started to notice issues with the water coming out of the faucet in his home. He showed WRAL jugs of water he uses to cook and drink.

Since then, he’s written to governors Roy Cooper and Josh Stein, as well as state environmental quality officials.

“When our water smells, when our water is not clear, that's not quality water,” Moss told WRAL.

During a June meeting, city commissioners considered putting money towards water filters, as requested by some in the community. Each filter would cost $135.

Commissioner Archer Wilkins, who supports the idea, said the city could not legally buy water filters for everyone but could buy them for low-to-moderate income households.

“This, in my opinion, are the filters required to give our citizens confidence in our drinking water,” Wilkins said during the June meeting.

Short-term solutions are scarce

Schroyer shot down the idea, along with some city leaders.

“We are not interested and not capable to really push out water filters to our residents,” he said. “The board is not interested in doing that. We work on solving a larger problem.”

Mayor Pro Tempore Edward Gleason pointed to cost and legal implications as reasons why the city could not purchase individual filters.

“Well, first of all, legally we can't purchase water filters for our citizens. You can't spend taxpayer money without having a reason that benefits the city of Creedmoor 100%,” Gleason said. “It is like a Band-aid. It may stop the bleeding for six months, then they're going to have problems with water filters. And then in a year, SGWASA fixes the problem and now these people still have water filters that they have to maintain.”

Gleason also said the city has made more conscious decisions in acknowledgement of how growth and zoning could be adding strain to the water system.

“When you come in and you get a subdivision approval, you have to have automatic flushers on these cul-de-sacs, which will definitely help the water system,” he told WRAL. “We've already looked at that as a city, and that's something we can address and we have done that.”

Gleason emphasized that he and the other city commission members care about the citizens, and what they’re experiencing.

“We have two people on the SGWASA board that are working hard to better the quality of the water,” he said.

However, some residents want solutions that won’t take years to implement and actually feel the impacts.

“I believe anything we can do to help keep citizens healthier for as long as we can until that long-term solution comes, I think that's what we need to do,” Moss said.