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Spartanburg Water Team Members Remove More Than 19,000 Pounds from the Watershed
October 17th 2025
197 employees spent two-days removing garbage from around drinking water reservoirs.
Spending approximately eight hours over two days (October 15 and 16), 197 Spartanburg Water employees helped remove more than 19,000 pounds of trash from around the utility’s three reservoirs – Lake Bowen, Lake Blalock and Reservoir #1, along with areas that directly impact the area’s watershed. More than three-fourths of Spartanburg Water’s entire workforce participated in the event, which returned again this year following a postponement due to Hurricane Helene last year.
This incredible amount of litter, which equates to nearly 10 tons, included approximately 275 - 55 gallon bags of trash; along with many larger items, including furniture, appliances, carpet, toilets, mattresses and even television sets. Nearly 200 tires were also removed from the watershed – enough to benefit 50 cars.
“Our Spartanburg Water team members removed an amazing amount of trash that had been dumped around our three, drinking water reservoirs,” said Spartanburg Water CEO, Guy Boyle. “As a participant in the clean-up myself, it was very disheartening to see the amount of trash simply discarded without thought in areas that directly tie into our community’s drinking water.”
“In fact, our Spartanburg County landfill offers free or low-cost disposal of waste, and the County also operates 17 recycling/waste disposal sites throughout the area for residents to easily dispose of their trash,” Boyle added.
“One of our goals at Spartanburg Water is to continue to communicate, educate and inform our friends and community members of the importance of protecting and caring for these natural resources. Most trash that is not contained in a receptacle will eventually find its way into our watershed, and we believe it is important to continue to educate so that we all will continue to be the beneficiaries of these natural resources.”
ABOUT SPARTANBURG WATER: Spartanburg Water, an industry leading utility, is comprised of Spartanburg Water System and Spartanburg Sanitary Sewer District. It serves a population of more than 200,000 within Spartanburg County, as well as others in parts of Greenville, Union and Cherokee counties. With the help of its dedicated team of almost 300 employees, each day it produces an average of 25 million gallons of drinking water and cleans 12 million gallons of reclaimed water for its customers and community. For more information on Spartanburg Water’s water quality efforts, visit us at spartanburgwater.org.
