Service category
Water Quality Services
Installation and repair of water filtration, softeners, reverse osmosis and drinking water systems, sized against what is actually in your local supply.
- Licensed and insured
- Price agreed before work
- A plumber who works your area
Water treatment should start with what is actually in your supply, not with a product. Utilities publish annual water quality reports, and the hardness figure in yours decides whether a softener is a genuine need, a preference, or solving a problem you do not have.
Start with the report, not the product
The useful first step costs nothing. Every utility publishes an annual water quality report, and it gives the total hardness of your actual supply.
That number does most of the deciding. Above roughly ten grains per gallon, scale is doing measurable damage to water heaters and fixtures and a softener earns its place. Between about four and ten grains it is a preference: you may dislike the spotting, but nothing is being harmed. Below that, or in a city that already softens centrally, a softener is solving a problem you do not have.
Hardness varies enormously, and not only between regions. It can differ between neighbourhoods in one city depending on which plant or source serves them. Anyone quoting a hardness figure for your address without pointing at the utility’s own published data is guessing, or selling.
Hardness and taste are different problems
They get conflated, usually by whoever is selling the softener.
A softener exchanges calcium and magnesium, which is what stops scale. It does not remove chlorine and it does not fix most taste and odour complaints. Those are carbon filtration questions, either at a single tap or whole-house.
Reverse osmosis goes further again and is normally fitted at one drinking tap rather than to the whole supply, because it is slower and wastes some water in the process. Matching the method to the actual complaint is the whole job.
In this category
Water Quality Services jobs we handle
Water Softener Repair
Repairing softeners that have stopped softening, are using salt without effect, or have bridged and stopped drawing brine at all.
See what this coversWater Filtration Systems
Choosing and maintaining filtration, since carbon, sediment, reverse osmosis and specialist media each remove different things and none removes everything.
See what this coversHard Water Treatment
Dealing with hard water, which shortens appliance life and scales heaters, and choosing between softening and conditioning honestly.
See what this coversWater Testing
Testing what is actually in the water, which is the step that turns a filtration decision from guesswork into a specification.
See what this coversWhole House Water Filter
Filtering everything entering the property, which suits sediment and chlorine problems affecting every fixture, and needs sizing for flow not just capacity.
See what this coversReverse Osmosis Installation
Installing reverse osmosis for drinking water, which removes more than any other filter, produces slowly, and needs a drain connection.
See what this covers
Does this sound familiar?
Problems this covers
- Scale building up on fixtures, kettles and inside water heaters
- Spotting on glassware and a film that soap will not rinse away
- A taste or odour that makes tap water unpleasant to drink
- An existing softener that has stopped regenerating
- A filtration system past its service interval
- Uncertainty about what is actually in the local supply
Questions
Water Quality Services questions
How do I know if I need a water softener?
Look up your utility's annual water quality report and find the total hardness figure. It is published, it is free, and it is specific to your supply rather than to your region. Above roughly ten grains per gallon a softener is a defensible purchase because scale is doing real damage to appliances. Between about four and ten it is a preference. Below that, and in cities that already soften centrally, a softener is solving a problem you do not have. Be wary of anyone quoting a figure without citing the utility.
Will a softener fix the taste of my water?
Not usually, because taste and hardness are different problems. A softener exchanges the calcium and magnesium that cause scale; it does not remove chlorine, and it does not address most taste and odour complaints. Those are better handled by carbon filtration, either at a single tap or for the whole house. Reverse osmosis goes further and is normally fitted at one drinking tap rather than to the whole supply.
Can water be too soft?
Yes, and this is why some cities deliberately stop short of very soft water. Water low in dissolved minerals is chemically aggressive toward metal and tends to attack pipe rather than coat it, which is why utilities that soften centrally target a level chosen for corrosion control and adjust pH as well. Softer is not automatically better, and over-softening a supply that is already moderate is not an improvement.
How often does a filtration system need servicing?
It depends on the type and on how much water goes through it, and the manufacturer's interval is the starting point rather than the answer. A cartridge past its life stops improving the water and can become a problem in its own right. Softeners need salt kept topped up and the resin checked periodically. Reverse osmosis membranes and pre-filters have their own separate schedules, which is worth knowing before buying one.
Get it fixed
Water Quality Services, handled locally
Call with your ZIP code and what you are seeing. We route you to a licensed plumber in your area who does this work every week.
- Licensed and insured
- Answered 24/7
- Price before work