Newberry County Water

Newberry County Water, a U.S. local government entity based in Newberry, South Carolina, receives federal grant funds as a sub-recipient through South Carolina state agencies and performs water infrastructure and treatment work funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (Region 4), the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service.

Newberry County Water is a municipally owned water and sewer authority operating as a local government entity without SBA certifications or contracting vehicle eligibility. The vendor holds a sub-recipient posture exclusively — all five awards in the recent footprint are grant sub-awards, with no prime grant or contract awards. The organization does not hold a federal contract vehicle seat and has not been awarded a federal prime contract.

Customer concentration reflects regional federal funding flows. The top three federal sources — the Environmental Protection Agency Region 4 (2 awards), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (2 awards), and the Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service (1 award) — account for 100% of recent awards and $2.6 million in combined obligated dollars. The EPA and FEMA awards represent co-equal volume; the USDA Rural Utilities Service award, though single, carries the remaining obligated value.

Recent grant sub-work centers on water treatment optimization and emergency resilience. As a sub-recipient under the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services, Newberry County Water received a $2.6 million aggregate sub-award to evaluate and pilot granular activated carbon (GAC) treatment for emerging contaminants, specifically per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) removal at its Lake Murray Water Treatment Plant, and to conduct bench-scale testing of powered activated carbon (PAC) products. Under the South Carolina Adjutant General (FEMA prime recipient), the vendor received sub-awards for culvert washout repair and SCADA emergency power generation infrastructure. Activity spans from 2016 to May 2026, with recent acceleration — three awards in 2025 and one in 2026 — following a decade-long gap in the award record shown in the source.