Cowpens takes its name from the Revolutionary War battlefield nine miles north in Cherokee County, but the town itself grew up later, along the railroad. It was chartered in 1880, its depot went up in 1896, and it had a little over 2,000 people in 2020. It sits about nine miles from downtown Spartanburg and shares the city's utilities more than most small towns do.
The town does not run water or sewer itself. Spartanburg Water and the Spartanburg Sanitary Sewer District own and maintain both systems, and the sewer district operates a treatment plant at Cowpens. Natural gas is Piedmont Natural Gas. That means the same soft water, the same utility phone numbers and the same rules about who owns which pipe as in Spartanburg.
Building permits run through the Town of Cowpens, with zoning approval first. The town's building safety work, permits and inspections, is handled by CC&I Services, a code services firm based in Roebuck.
Gas Guys is on call 24 hours a day, every day of the year, with a person answering the phone.
Cowpens at a glance
- Natural gas
- Piedmont Natural Gas. The town lists Piedmont Natural Gas as its gas utility, along with propane suppliers for homes that are not on a main.
- Water
- Spartanburg Water
- Sewer
- Spartanburg Sanitary Sewer District
- Permits
- Town of Cowpens (building safety by CC&I Services)
- Housing
- Older homes near Main Street and the 1896 depot, mid-century houses, and newer homes on the edges of town.
Plumbing and gas in Cowpens: what to know
Where the utility's pipe ends
Spartanburg Water owns the main and the line up to and including the meter. The line from the meter to the house, and the sewer lateral from the house to the public tap, belong to the homeowner. Knowing where that boundary sits saves a wasted call when water is pooling in the yard.
Cast iron under older floors
Houses near the center of town that date from the early and mid 1900s often still have cast iron drain pipe under the floor. Cast iron rusts from the inside and can crack along the bottom, which shows up as slow drains, sewer smell or damp soil in the crawlspace. A camera inspection shows the condition before anything gets opened up.
Gas lines extended a piece at a time
When gas logs, a water heater or a range have been added over the years, the piping has often been extended a little at a time. That can leave a line too small for everything running at once, or old flexible appliance connectors that should be replaced. A leak check and a look at the piping layout is worth doing before adding another appliance.
Soft water, aging tanks
Spartanburg Water is generally soft, so scale is a smaller problem than in hard-water areas. Tank water heaters still collect sediment and use up their anode rods, though, and a neglected tank usually fails by leaking at the bottom. Flushing it and checking the anode helps it reach a full service life.
Toilets and fixtures in older baths
Older bathrooms often have toilets and valves that have been patched many times. A toilet that runs, rocks or leaks at the base usually needs a new flapper, fill valve or wax ring, and a rocking toilet with a failed seal can quietly rot the subfloor. Tub and shower valves that drip with the handle off usually need a cartridge or stem, not a whole new valve.