Plumbers in Canton, GA

Etowah River water, treated in town

Canton draws most of its drinking water from the Etowah River and treats it at the Bobby E. Bishop Water Treatment facility. A smaller share, under a fifth of the water it sells, is bought from the Cherokee County Water & Sewerage Authority and the City of Waleska, both of which also draw from the Etowah. The city disinfects with chlorine, adds fluoride and adds polyphosphate to limit scaling and corrosion inside pipes. Its report does not give a hardness figure, so a softener decision should start with a test.

The city bills monthly for both water and sewer. Outages, leaks and sewer emergencies go to the city Operations Department at 770-479-2392, and the Water Department office is at (770) 704-1500.

From mill town to fast-growing suburb

Canton is the Cherokee County seat, a former denim mill town on the Etowah in the Blue Ridge foothills, about 34 miles north of downtown Atlanta along I-575, GA-20 and GA-140. The Historic Canton Theatre anchors downtown, and Hickory Log Creek Reservoir, also called Lake Canton, sits nearby. The city had 32,973 residents in 2020 and grew quickly after 2000, which shows in its housing: the median home was built in 2005 and about 13% predate 1980.

So most Canton calls involve homes from the last two decades: water heaters approaching replacement, PEX fitting and supply line leaks, running toilets and clogged kitchen lines. The older mill-era housing near downtown is where galvanized pipe, aging drains and worn sewer lines turn up.

Permits

City of Canton Building & Safety Services handles permitting through the city's online permitting and licensing portal; questions go to 770-704-0100. The city's page does not spell out which plumbing jobs need a permit, so ask the office or have your plumber confirm before replacing a water heater or rerouting pipe. Addresses with a Canton mailing address outside city limits go to Cherokee County instead.

Gas

Atlanta Gas Light is the gas operator listed for Cherokee County, and customers buy gas from marketers. If you smell gas, leave the house, then call 911 and Atlanta Gas Light at 877.427.4321 from a safe distance.

Compared with Atlanta

A Canton home drinks water from a different river, treated by a different city, with polyphosphate added, and it gets permits from Canton. Call the number on this page, say what's wrong, and you'll be connected with an independent plumber who works in Canton.