West Ashley, South Carolina
Water Filtration Systems in West Ashley
Charleston Water System supply — soft, chloraminated, PFAS above the coming limit.
Charleston Water System supply — soft, chloraminated, PFAS above the coming limit.
Quick answer: West Ashley drinks Charleston Water System water — soft at 58.4 ppm, disinfected with chlorine dioxide and chloramines, and carrying PFOA and PFOS above EPA’s new 4.0 ppt limits. Catalytic carbon for the house, reverse osmosis at the sink. Call (843) 718-8177.
West Ashley is on the same supply as the peninsula, so the published numbers are Charleston Water System’s.
| Measure | Published figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Hardness | 58.4 ppm · 3.4 grains — “moderately soft” | Charleston Water System FAQ · 2026 |
| Source water | 90% Bushy Park Reservoir, 10% Edisto River | Charleston Water System FAQ · 2026 |
| Disinfectant | Chlorine dioxide and chloramines | Charleston Water System FAQ · 2026 |
| PFOA / PFOS | 4.3 / 5.8 ppt — both above the 4.0 limit | EPA UCMR5 occurrence data · 2026-08 |
| Total trihalomethanes | 12 ppb against an 80 ppb limit | CWS 2026 Water Quality Report · 2026 |
| Lead, 90th percentile | 3.5 ppb against a 15 ppb action level | CWS 2026 Water Quality Report · 2026 |
Every figure above is published by Charleston Water System or by EPA. None of it is our measurement, and all of it is checkable.
The utility calls its own water moderately soft and publishes 3.4 grains per gallon. National softener retailers advertise Charleston at 8.5 to 10.2 grains. There is very little hardness here to remove.
Because the disinfectant is chloramine rather than free chlorine, ordinary carbon needs about ten minutes of contact time to strip it and catalytic carbon needs three to four. Most systems sold here are sized for neither.
PFOA and PFOS both measured above the new federal limits. Those limits are not enforceable until April 2029, so the utility is not in violation — but an under-sink reverse osmosis unit addresses it now for a few hundred dollars.
Permits in West Ashley go through City of Charleston; the licensed plumbing subcontractor pulls it in their own name.
No — it is Charleston Water System water at 58.4 ppm, 3.4 grains, which the utility itself calls moderately soft.
Softeners are not indicated on this supply. The chloramine and the PFAS results are the things worth acting on.
Yes. EPA measured PFOA at 4.3 and PFOS at 5.8 parts per trillion in Charleston Water System’s water, both above the 4.0 federal limit.
Not enforceable until April 2029. An under-sink reverse osmosis system addresses it now.
Catalytic carbon sized for your real flow rate if you want the whole house treated, plus under-sink reverse osmosis for drinking water.
The sizing is the part that goes wrong most often. Ask any contractor for the cubic feet of carbon and the design flow rate.