What the work is
A whole-home filter handles sediment and taste and odor compounds at the point where the water enters the house, ahead of the softener and everything else. It is not a softener and does not replace one.
The two questions are flow and service. A filter sized too small drops pressure across the house at peak; one installed without a bypass means the whole house is off every time a cartridge changes. We size for your service and install with a bypass.
What is included
- The housing and media or cartridges, plumbed on the main line with a bypass
- Pressure gauges before and after, so you can see when it is loading up
- Writing down the cartridge sizes and the change interval
What is not
- Softening. This is filtration; hardness passes straight through
- Well water treatment, which is a different specification
- A promise about a specific contaminant unless we have tested for it
Order matters
Sediment and carbon go ahead of a softener so the resin is protected. Reverse osmosis goes last, at the tap. Getting the order wrong shortens the life of the expensive part.
No water quality report in the county publishes hardness; it is not a federally required parameter. St. George blends spring, well and Virgin River sources, and its 2024 report shows total dissolved solids from 118 to 936 ppm and sulfate from 1.38 to 451 ppm depending on which blend feeds your street. A city-wide number is not your number. A recommendation should come from a test at your tap.
What to ask anyone quoting this, us included
- What flow rate is this rated for, and what is my service?
- Is there a bypass and are there gauges?
- What does a cartridge cost and how often?
