Grassy Pond Water Co

What Grassy Pond Water Co does

Grassy Pond Water Company is a non-profit, member-owned rural water utility cooperative founded in 1968 and headquartered at 626 Chesnee Highway in Gaffney, South Carolina. It provides drinking water distribution and related customer services to over 3,000 residential customers across the northwest section of Cherokee County, SC, and parts of Cleveland and Rutherford Counties, NC — having expanded into North Carolina in 1984. The company is the second-largest water provider in Cherokee County and is governed by a Board of Directors elected by members who hold taps in good standing.

The company's core product is residential water distribution, supported by an AMI/metered infrastructure system with monthly meter reads, usage-based billing in hundred-gallon increments, and a minimum monthly charge of $22 for the first 2,000 gallons plus $5.50 per 1,000 gallons above that threshold. New connections require tap fees ($3,000 for a 3/4-inch tap, $4,000 for 1 inch, cost plus 30% for larger taps, effective February 2024), with a $75 reconnect fee and a $250 meter refurbishment fee as ancillary charges. Customers can pay through an online portal (qpaybill.com), phone, mail, ACH auto-draft, or in-person at the Gaffney office.

Grassy Pond Water Company operates a lean organization of 1–10 employees, including a General Manager (Philip Sarratt), Distribution Manager (Adam Cooper), and Office Manager (Emily Kurtz), supported by a Distribution Crew operating a 4-day/10-hour schedule. Distribution infrastructure — meters, pipelines, and service lines — constitutes the primary asset base. The company holds affiliations with the National Rural Water Association and the South Carolina Rural Water Association, and its website is built on the RuralWaterImpact.com platform. Marketing activity is limited to website content, email/text alert subscriptions, and industry association referrals, consistent with a regulated utility with exclusive service territory and no enterprise sales motion.

Name

Grassy Pond Water Co

Legal name

Grassy Pond Water Company

Website

https://grassypondwatercompany.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1968

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Grassy Pond Water Company is a non-profit, member-owned rural water utility cooperative founded in 1968 that provides drinking water distribution and billing services to over 3,000 residential customers in Cherokee County, SC and parts of Cleveland and Rutherford Counties, NC.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Rural Water Utility Services

NAICS

Water, Sewage and Other Systems (2213), Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (221310), Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (22131)

SIC

Water Supply (4941)

akta.pro primary industry

Water Supply & Wastewater Utilities Administration (BPAIACAG)

Keywords

• Rural water utility
• Drinking water supply
• Community water service
• Water distribution services
• Metered water service

Headquarters

HQ city

Gaffney

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Monthly Water Service: Recurring monthly billing for water service. Bills issued at the first of every month with due date on the 20th. Usage-based pricing with minimum charge and per-gallon rates above threshold. Late penalty of 10% applied to outstanding balances after due date.
2. Tap Fees: One-time fees charged for new service connections. 3/4 inch tap: $3,000; 1 inch tap: $4,000; taps over 1 inch: cost plus 30%. These fees increased effective February 1, 2024.
3. Service Fees: Additional fees including reconnect fee of $75 for disconnected service and meter refurbishment fee of $250 for meters off over 60 days.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Grassy Pond Water Company is a non-profit, member-owned rural water utility that delivers metered drinking water to more than 3,000 residential customers in Cherokee County, South Carolina and parts of Cleveland and Rutherford Counties in North Carolina. The company bills customers monthly based on metered usage (with a minimum monthly charge and per-gallon rates above the threshold), charges one-time tap fees for new service connections, and provides related service fees such as reconnection and meter refurbishment. It is governed by a member-elected Board of Directors and operates as a regulated utility with exclusive service territory.

Product overview

Grassy Pond Water Company offers a single, unified water utility service portfolio centered on water distribution. The core offerings include water distribution to over 3000 residential customers, monthly billing and meter reading services, new service connections with tap fees, and water quality reporting. Supporting services include water conservation education, drought contingency planning, and bill payment through multiple channels (online, phone, mail, ACH auto-draft, and in-person). The company was founded in 1968 as a non-profit rural water company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Water Distribution Service
• New Service Connection

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• National Rural Water AssociationminorOthersListed as a related link on Grassy Pond Water Company's website. The NRWA provides support, resources, and advocacy for rural water systems across the United States.
• South Carolina Rural Water AssociationminorOthersListed as a related link on Grassy Pond Water Company's website. The SCRWA provides support and resources for rural water systems in South Carolina.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• SJW Group: Holding company for San Jose Water and Connecticut Water — regulated water utilities serving residential customers in California and Connecticut. Comparable business model of metered residential water service under a regulated utility framework with periodic rate cases.
• Veolia North America: Operates regulated and contracted water and wastewater systems for municipalities and communities across North America. Comparable because it serves small and mid-sized communities with regulated utility-style water distribution, similar in customer profile to Grassy Pond's residential members.
• American Water Works Company: Largest publicly traded US water and wastewater utility, serving ~14 million people across 14 states. Comparable because it operates regulated water distribution networks with metered residential billing — the same core business Grassy Pond performs, but at vastly greater scale and geographic breadth.
• Essential Utilities: Multi-state regulated water and natural gas utility (formerly Aqua America). Comparable as a regulated water utility serving residential customers with usage-based monthly billing and tap/connection fees across a multi-county/multi-state footprint.
• Middlesex Water Company: Investor-owned water and wastewater utility serving customers in New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. Comparable as a regulated, metered, residential-focused water utility with similar monthly billing and tap-fee economics, though operating in a denser Mid-Atlantic market.
• Artesian Resources: Regulated water and wastewater utility serving Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Comparable as a small-cap regulated water utility with residential metered billing and infrastructure-investment-driven rate adjustments, similar in scale and operating model to Grassy Pond.
• Liberty Utilities: Multi-utility operator (water, electric, natural gas) across the US and Canada, including regulated water service in the Southeast. Comparable in providing regulated residential water service with monthly metered billing, but operates across many jurisdictions rather than a single rural territory.
• California Water Service: Investor-owned water utility serving ~2 million people across California, Hawaii, New Mexico, and Washington. Comparable as a regulated metered water utility with residential customers, monthly billing, and drought-driven rate adjustments — albeit in a much larger and more water-stressed geography.

Regional players

• Bluewater Utility Services: Utility management and operations company serving small and rural water and wastewater systems in the Southeast US. Comparable because it operates and manages small community water systems like Grassy Pond under contract, addressing the same operational and regulatory pressures of rural water utilities.

Others

• Rural Water Impact: Vendor that powers Grassy Pond's website (and similar rural utility websites across the US). Listed as 'Powered by RuralWaterImpact.com' on Grassy Pond's site, making it an ecosystem/enabling peer whose customer base overlaps directly with Grassy Pond's segment.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/grassy-pond-water-co

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Grassy Pond Water Co