Union Mills is an unincorporated community in northern Rutherford County, along Hudlow Road east of U.S. 221 and about eight miles north of Rutherfordton. It is rural country: farms, woods and houses on large lots, with a ZIP code of its own (28167) and no town government.
That means no town utilities. Most homes here draw water from a private well and send wastewater to a septic system, and gas appliances run on propane from a tank on the property. We have not found a public water or sewer line serving the area as a whole, so check your own bills or property records if you are not sure.
Permits come from Rutherford County Building Inspections in Rutherfordton, and county inspectors cover both upper and lower Union Mills. Gas Guys holds North Carolina license #L39015 and serves Union Mills from its base in Spartanburg County, SC.
Union Mills at a glance
- Natural gas
- Mostly propane. The state utility map shows no natural gas service in the Union Mills area; homes here generally run gas appliances on propane.
- Water
- Mostly private wells
- Sewer
- Mostly septic
- Permits
- Rutherford County Building Inspections
- Housing
- Farmhouses, older rural homes, manufactured homes and newer houses on large lots in the hills north of Rutherfordton.
Plumbing and gas in Union Mills: what to know
Well water and the house plumbing
On a well, the pump, pressure tank and pressure switch decide what pressure you get at the faucet. If pressure drops throughout the house at once, start there. If one fixture is weak, the cause is more likely in the house piping or the fixture itself, which is plumbing work.
Hard freezes in the hills
Union Mills sits higher and colder than the SC Upstate, and a well line, a pressure tank in an unheated shed or a supply line in a ventilated crawlspace can all freeze. Insulate and heat the well house or pump space, close crawlspace vents for winter, and drip a faucet on the coldest nights.
Septic and your drains
On septic, slow drains throughout the house or a wet spot over the drain field point to the tank or field, and that is a septic contractor's job. A single slow drain is more likely a clog in the house. Avoid chemical drain openers, which can upset the bacteria a septic system depends on.
Propane appliances
Your propane company owns and fills the tank and sets the first regulator. The pipe from there to the water heater, range, dryer or gas logs is house piping, sized and pressure tested under the NC Fuel Gas Code. If you smell gas, leave the house, then call your propane supplier and 911 from outside.