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The mission for the Salisbury-Rowan Utilities Department is to provide quality water and wastewater services to the Region that protect the environment, promote public health, improve the quality of life, and maintain the public trust by:

  • Providing high quality customer service
  • Properly maintaining and upgrading equipment and facilities to cost-effectively meet environmental regulations and future customer needs
  • Utilizing innovative and effective treatment and operational methods
  • Attracting, retaining and rewarding qualified staff and providing them with a safe and efficient workplace

Divisions

SRU's three divisions are: Plant Operations, Systems Maintenance and Support Services.


Service Area

Salisbury-Rowan Utilities is committed to providing our customers and communities with a safe and plentiful supply of water both now and in the future! Salisbury-Rowan Utilities service area currently serves residential and business customers in the municipalities of Salisbury, Granite Quarry, Spencer, East Spencer, China Grove, Rockwell, and some unincorporated areas within Rowan County.


History

Salisbury-Rowan Utilities’ history started before the turn of the century in 1886 and follows the growth of the City of Salisbury and the surrounding Rowan County.

Contact Us

Customer Service

Address:
1415 S. MLK Jr. Ave.
Salisbury, NC 28144

Hours of Operation:

9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Monday - Friday

(704) 638-5300
customerservice@salisburync.gov

Salisbury-Rowan Utilities

Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 479
Salisbury, North Carolina 28145

Administration Building:
One Water Street
Salisbury, North Carolina 28144

 

photo of Jim Behmer

SRU Director

Jim Behmer
(704) 638-5202
jbehm@salisburync.gov


photo of Jason Wilson

Assistant Utilities Director

Jason H. Wilson, P.E.
(704) 216-7553
jason.wilson@salisburync.gov


SRU Org. Chart

Plant Operations

This division includes the following sub-divisions: Water Plant Operations, Wastewater Plant Operations, Plants Maintenance, and Bio-Solids.

Water Plant Operations

Water Plant Operations provides the customers of Salisbury-Rowan Utilities with a sufficient supply of high quality potable water that meets all regulatory standards for purity, taste, appearance, and flow, at a reasonable cost to the consumer.

The water supply for Salisbury-Rowan Utilities is the Yadkin River. Our intake is located at the confluence of the Yadkin and South Yadkin Rivers, and a series of pumps, pipes, and reservoirs bring raw water to the plant near downtown Salisbury.

The Salisbury-Rowan Utilities’ Water Treatment Plant uses a pretreatment process called Actiflo, which is a high-rate clarification unit. Salisbury treats an annual average of 9.7 million gallons of water per day (MGD). The water plant is permitted to treat up to 24 MGD. There is off stream storage of 28 MG if the Yadkin River should ever be unsuitable for drinking water.

Micro-Sand, Polymer, and Poly-Aluminum Chloride are added to the raw water as it enters the pretreatment units to begin the coagulation process. After mixing, the solids are removed by the pretreatment process. The water is allowed to settle up to 4 hours and then it is filtered. After filtration, Sodium Hypochlorite, Fluoride and Phosphate are added and the pH is adjusted using liquid lime. Fluoride is added to promote stronger teeth, and Phosphate helps to prevent pipe corrosion in the distribution system. 

Water Resources Manager

Vacant


Water Treatment Plant Supervisor

Jeff Parker
(704) 638-4480
jepark@salisburync.gov


Environmental Compliance Coordinator

Kalah Simpson
(704) 216-2731
kalah.simpson@salisburync.gov


Wastewater Plant Operations

Wastewater Plant Operations provides our customers with a system that treats their domestic and industrial wastewater by using methods that meet or exceed the State of North Carolina’s regulatory standards and requirements. SRU has two treatment facilities; Grant Creek and Town Creek Wastewater Treatment Plants. The combination of these two plants on average treat approximately 8.7 million gallons of wastewater each day. The thoroughly treated wastewater is then discharged into the Yadkin River.

Biosolids are a byproduct of treating wastewater and are primarily nutrient-rich organic materials. When these solids are properly treated and processed meeting strict quality criteria and land application rates biosolids are then used to fertilize fields for raising crops. Biosolids added to the soil supply nutrients and replenish soil organic matter and have shown to produce significant improvements in crop growth and yield. SRU’s treated biosolids are only land applied on animal agricultural land.

Wastewater Treatment Plant Supervisor

Charles Wood
(704) 216-2728
Charles.Wood@salisburync.gov


Plants Maintenance

Plants Maintenance maintains and repairs the process equipment of the water and wastewater treatment facilities. These facilities include two wastewater treatment plants, one water treatment plant, 34 wastewater lift stations, 7 water booster stations and 15 water storage tanks. A Plant Maintenance crew member is on stand-by at all times in order to respond to any malfunctions or emergencies at any of these sites.

Utility System Supervisor

Greg Kincaid
(704) 216-2713
gkinc@salisburync.gov

Systems Maintenance

This division includes the following sub-divisions: System Administration, Water Distribution, Wastewater Collections, Utility Constructions, and Meter Services.

System Administration

Coordinates the administrative duties of Systems Maintenance Divisions and Meter Services.

For bulk water permits, contact the Senior Office Assistant, Catherine B. Mabe.

Systems Maintenance Manager

Randy Allman
(704) 638-2106
rallm@salisburync.gov


Systems Maintenance Manager

Vacant
(704) 638-5392

 


Warehouse Technician

Danette Granberry
(704) 638-5389
danette.granberry@salisburync.gov


Senior Office Assistant

Catherine B. Mabe
(704) 638-2135
catherine.mabe@salisburync.gov


Water Distribution

Responsible for water distribution through a network of over 450 miles of pipes throughout Salisbury, Spencer, Granite Quarry, Rockwell, East Spencer, China Grove and other portions of Rowan County.


Wastewater Collections

Provides customers with an effective, efficient sewer collection system. This division maintains over 450 miles of sewer lines with over 4,000 manholes throughout Salisbury, Spencer, Granite Quarry, Rockwell, East Spencer, China Grove and other portions of Rowan County.


Meter Services

The Meter Services Division is responsible for accurately reading each water meter in our system on a monthly basis. They also perform meter testing and calibration as needed, or in response to customer concerns. There are over 21,000 meters in our system.

Meter Services Supervisor

Jeff Caster
(704) 638-5391
jcast@salisburync.gov

Support Services

This division includes the following sub-divisions: Environmental Services, Engineering/GIS, and Administration/Education.

Administration/Education

Salisbury-Rowan Utilities Administration Offices are located at 1 Water Street, just a few blocks from downtown Salisbury. This is also the location for our Engineering, Utility Planning, GIS Divisions as well as our Environmental Education efforts.

These groups function collectively to serve as the central management and administration of the utility, as well as engineering support for activities, operations, and projects related to Salisbury-Rowan Utilities (SRU).

We also educate citizens as to how we provide our customers with high quality water and wastewater services in addition to protecting the environment, which includes educating others in how they can assist in that effort.

SRU Admin. Services Manager

Patrick Kennerly
(704) 638-4458
pkenn@salisburync.gov

 

Administrative Specialist

Elsa Hernandez
(704) 638-4485
elsa.hernandez@salisburync.gov

 


Environmental Services

Environmental Services provides technical support to the utility, ensuring compliance with all regulatory mandates and permits. This includes the operation of the wastewater laboratory, management of the industrial pretreatment program, and implementation of the Fats, Oils and Grease (FOG) program.

The wastewater laboratory continuously monitors the treatment process and helps to optimize the operation of the plants. The Pretreatment program is responsible for maintaining close scrutiny of major industrial customers to ensure that their discharge is within permitted limits. The FOG program works closely with all food service establishments to minimize the amount of fats, oils, and grease that enter into the wastewater collection system, which can result in blocked sewer lines and sewer spills.

F.O.G. Program Industrial Pretreatment Program

Environmental Services Manager

Sonja Basinger
(704) 216-7539
sbasi@salisburync.gov


Laboratory Services Supervisor

Casey Banks
(704) 216-2733
casey.banks@salisburync.gov


FOG Program Coordinator

Johnny Rogers
(704) 216-7568
jroge@salisburync.gov


Pretreatment Program Coordinator

Jeff Greer
(704) 216-2729
jgree@salisburync.gov


Engineering/GIS

Engineering/GIS coordinates with customers, developers, designers, regulators and other City and County departments to ensure that water and wastewater infrastructure is designed and constructed to meet applicable standards. This may involve design, analysis, plans, specifications, investigations, cost estimates, scheduling and/or inspections. Additionally, this division plans, coordinates and oversees the 10-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for SRU.

Project Manager - Utilities

Blake Jordan
(704) 638-2103
blake.jordan@salisburync.gov


Sr. Instrumentation & Controls Technician

Lee Bouknight
(704) 638-5273
lbouk@salisburync.gov


Systems Analyst II

Wendy Spry
(704) 216-7560
wspry@salisburync.gov


Construction Inspector

Travis Martin
(704) 216-7551
travis.martin@salisburync.gov


Senior Engineer

Ashley Webb
(704) 638-2146
Ashley.Webb@salisburync.gov

Service Area Map

  • Water Services
  • Sewer Services
SRU Service Area Map for Water
SRU Service Area Map for Sewer

History of S.R.U.

Salisbury-Rowan Utilities’ history started before the turn of the century in 1886 when the Salisbury Water Co. was chartered. The private company was purchased by the City of Salisbury in 1901. In 1917 the City Council elected to change the water source from Crane Creek in Corbin Hills to the Yadkin River to provide a cleaner and more reliable water supply, and the original water treatment plant was constructed at 1 Water Street that same year.

Our Administration building has an interesting history. After the new water treatment facility was built at 405 N. Jackson in 1949 the Water St. building served as the Salisbury Police Station and jail from 1953-1977. It then became The Water Works Art Gallery, and even though it moved from the building in 2001, it kept the name. Remnants of both the jail and the art gallery exist in the building still today even though it currently serves as SRU’s Administrative Offices. The steel bars on what were 2 small jail cells & a few windows remain. There is also an artwork sculpture still standing in the SRU courtyard.

Our wastewater treatment began in 1935 when the Town Creek Treatment Plant was built to treat raw sewage before being discharged into Town Creek. Then in 1964 a second treatment plant was constructed at Grants Creek. That same year an additional reservoir was built making raw water storage capacity a total of 28 million gallons.

Many improvements, upgrades, and expansions occurred throughout the decades. When the Utilities’ Administration Dept. moved back to 1 Water Street in 2003, it also officially became Salisbury-Rowan Utilities serving our client communities throughout Rowan County.

Much growth occurred in the county since the Utility began. The original treatment capacity was only 1 million gallons of drinking water per day, but now SRU can treat up to 25 million gallons per day for our customers.

SRU currently has 1 water treatment plant treating an average of 9.3 million gallons per day, 2 wastewater facilities, and 15 water tanks which makes our finished water storage capacity 7,455,000 gallons. We also have 7 water booster stations, 35 wastewater lift stations, 2 laboratories, and over 900 Miles of water & sewer lines. Salisbury-Rowan Utilities also maintains nearly 3,000 fire hydrants.

Our current population being serviced for water is approximately 48,900 in Salisbury, Granite Quarry, Rockwell, Spencer, and China Grove. SRU also provides water and/or wastewater services to East Spencer, Faith, and Landis. We also have an emergency water connection with the city of Statesville if the need arises.

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