Moore sits on US 221 just west of I-26, south of Spartanburg, so it is a short drive from our base by either road. Our line is staffed by a person every hour of the day, and the first thing we do on an emergency call is help you stop the damage before a truck is even rolling.
Moore has no town government, and that shapes an emergency more than people expect. There is no town water department or town sewer crew to call. Your water most likely comes from the Woodruff-Roebuck Water District, your drains most likely empty into a septic tank, and your gas could come from one of two utilities or from a propane tank in the yard.
Homes here range from older farmhouses on acreage to newer subdivisions close to the interstate. On the older places, a long yard line, a hard-working septic system and a crawlspace full of mixed pipe are the usual suspects. On the newer ones, supply hoses, PEX fittings and garage water heaters lead the list.
Who to call first in Moore
Because Moore is unincorporated, the public side of each utility belongs to a different district or company. Knowing which side of the line a problem sits on saves a wasted call in the middle of the night.
- Natural gas smell: get everyone outside, then call 911 and the utility named on your bill, Piedmont Natural Gas at 800-752-7504 or Greer CPW at (864) 848-5500
- Propane smell: leave the house and call your propane supplier or 911 from the yard
- Water spraying at the meter box or along the road: the Woodruff-Roebuck Water District
- A full septic tank or a drain field that is surfacing: a septic pumping contractor
- Leaks between the meter and the house, burst pipes inside, and backups in the house drains: Gas Guys
Long yard lines that fail out of sight
On a big rural lot, the water meter may sit at the road a long way from the house. When that buried service line breaks, the water often surfaces well away from the actual break, or not at all, and the first sign is weak pressure in the shower or a hiss at the meter.
For a break you can see or hear, close the main valve at the house, or the curb valve in the meter box if the house valve will not budge. Then look at the meter: if the dial keeps turning with everything closed at the house, the leak is in the yard line rather than inside.
SC811 marks utility-owned lines up to the meter, not the private pipe from the meter to your house. We trace that pipe before we dig, so a water repair does not turn into a cut gas or electric line.
Backups on a septic system
Much of Moore drains to septic tanks rather than a public sewer, so a backup can start in three places: the drain pipes inside the house, the building line out to the tank, or the tank and drain field themselves.
The pattern points to the culprit. A single toilet or tub that stops is almost always a clog in the house plumbing. When every drain in the house slows over a day or so and the ground over the field is soggy or smells, the tank needs a septic contractor before anyone runs a cable.
Either way, stop using water until the cause is known. Each load of laundry or flush sends more water toward a line that has nowhere to put it.
Farmhouse crawlspaces and cold snaps
Older farmhouses around Moore have usually been added onto, and the plumbing shows it: galvanized steel in one section, copper or CPVC in another, PEX in the newest bath. Joints between different materials and the oldest galvanized runs are where leaks tend to begin.
Pipes near crawlspace vents, in an exterior wall of an added room, or feeding a hose bib on the north side freeze first in a hard cold snap. A split pipe often does not leak until it thaws, so a pipe that was frozen at breakfast deserves a look by afternoon.
Newer homes near the interstate
Subdivisions near I-26 and US 221 are plumbed mostly in PEX with plastic drains, and they rarely rust out. Their emergencies come from parts with a limited service life: a washing machine hose, a braided supply under a sink, a toilet fill valve, or a tank water heater in the garage that finally gives way at the bottom seam.
Every one of those has its own shutoff within reach. A ten-minute walk through the house to find each valve, and to make sure it turns, pays off the night something lets go.
In Moore specifically
County permits after the repair
When an emergency turns into a water heater replacement, a new yard line or a gas repair, the permit comes from Spartanburg County Building Codes, since Moore has no town permit office. We file it and meet the county inspector.
Two gas utilities and propane
Natural gas service around Moore varies from road to road. Check the name on your gas bill today and save that utility's emergency number in your phone, so you are not hunting for it during a leak.
The curb valve
Most water district meter boxes have a curb valve on the street side of the meter. It usually takes a meter key to turn, which any hardware store sells, and it is worth keeping one with your flashlight.
How an emergency call works
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You call, a person answers
Day or night, someone walks you through shutting off the water, gas or power while a plumber gets on the way.
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Stop the damage
The first job on site is to stop the water and make the house safe. A full repair sometimes waits for parts or daylight.
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Find the cause
A split pipe, a failed supply line, a blocked main or a rusted-out tank. Knowing why keeps it from happening again.
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Explain, then repair
We tell you what we found and the options before any repair beyond the emergency fix. Then we repair, restore the water and check for leaks.
The full guide to emergency plumbing, and everything else about plumbing and gas in Moore.