Water treatment questions, answered

It depends far more on where you live than most people expect. Published figures run from 8 to 10 grains per gallon in Gilbert up to 22 to 25 in south Scottsdale, with Phoenix itself spanning 9.2 to 20.1 across one city. Anything above 10.5 is classed as very hard. Several valley providers publish no figure at all, which is why we test your own tap and read it against whatever your area publishes.

It depends on the size of the house and whether a softener loop is already plumbed in. We quote after testing your water and looking at the connection, not over the phone, and the in-home test and consultation are free.

No. Ion exchange adds a very small amount of sodium in proportion to the hardness removed — far below what you would taste, and less than a slice of bread. On a sodium-restricted diet, potassium chloride or a salt-free conditioner avoids it entirely.

A typical valley household on a metered system uses somewhere around a bag a month. Hardness, water use and the size of the unit all move that number, which is another reason sizing matters.

Often, yes — valves, resin and control heads are all serviceable. We will tell you honestly when a repair is worth it and when the unit is past the point of being worth more service.

They solve different problems. A softener removes hardness so your plumbing and appliances survive; it does not make water better to drink and it is not a purifier. If your goal is drinking water, that is RO.

A properly maintained RO membrane substantially reduces arsenic, which matters in parts of the valley on groundwater.

Yes, and it is worth doing. It is a line run from the RO tank to the fridge, easiest at installation time.

Older systems sent several gallons to the drain per gallon produced. Current membranes and permeate-pump designs cut that considerably.

No, and be careful with anyone who says it will. Filtration and ion exchange are different processes. If your glasses are spotting and your heater is scaling, that is hardness and you need a softener.

Not when it is sized correctly. Pressure complaints after a filter install are almost always an undersized tank or media chosen for cost rather than flow.

Sometimes only once in a decade, depending on the media and how much water the house uses. It is a far longer cycle than an under-sink cartridge.

No, and the industry's loose use of the word 'softener' for these is the source of most disappointment with them. A softener removes hardness. A conditioner changes how hardness behaves. Both are useful; they are not the same product.

No. Spotting is hardness minerals left behind as water dries, and the minerals are still there. Only removal stops that.

Yes — that is the strongest claim these systems can honestly make, and it is a real one. Scale that cannot bond to the element does not insulate it.

Yes, along with the consultation. There is no charge and no obligation.

Hardness in grains per gallon and total dissolved solids as standard, and we will look at specific concerns — arsenic, nitrates, iron, a private well — if you have them, where a laboratory result may be necessary.

About thirty minutes, including looking at your plumbing connection and talking through what the results mean.

Yes. Wells around the valley's edges — Cave Creek, New River, the far West Valley — are a different problem from city water, often involving iron, sulphur, nitrates and more pernicious pollutants alongside hardness.

In valley water, effectively yes. Most manufacturers require water within a hardness limit for their coverage to hold, and valley water is well outside it. Without softening you are descaling annually and shortening the unit's life.

Usually. A flush and descale recovers most units unless the exchanger has been left long enough to be damaged. We will tell you which case you are in.

For most households, yes, on space and standing cost. The honest caveat is that the payback assumes it lasts, and lasting assumes softened water.