Straight answers about water treatment

Treatment-relevant conditions: hardness, chlorine and chloramine, total dissolved solids, pH, iron and visible conditions such as staining or odor. The exact panel depends on your source and what you report. It is a screening for selecting equipment, not a certified laboratory analysis. Full details on the water testing page.

Whenever the question is about health: bacteria, nitrate, lead, arsenic, PFAS, VOCs, or anything else with a regulatory limit. New York State recommends private well owners test for bacteria yearly and for other contaminants every three to five years through an ELAP-certified lab. We help you choose a lab, read the report, and respond to it.

Hardness and many dissolved contaminants have no taste or color. Scale on a kettle, spots on glassware, or a lab report are the usual prompts, but a one-time assessment establishes a baseline even if the answer is "no treatment needed."

Softened water has had calcium and magnesium exchanged for sodium or potassium; it stops scale and soap film. Filtered water has had something removed by media, in our featured systems chlorine and chloramine taste and odor. One addresses minerals, the other addresses disinfectant. The C-series systems do both in one tank. See softener vs filter vs RO.

Not necessarily. The whole-house system addresses hardness and disinfectant for every fixture; RO addresses dissolved contaminants in the water you drink. Households add RO for taste, to remove the sodium softening adds, or because a lab result shows something they want reduced at their own tap.

From the test and the house: hardness and disinfectant decide the type; flow, pressure, bathrooms and household size decide the sizing; your plumbing decides placement; your preferences decide tank construction. We explain the reasoning in the written quote.

Yes, after a certified lab test tells us what is in it. Well water may need iron, manganese, sulfur, sediment, or disinfection treatment that the featured C-series systems are not designed for. Puronics offers base configurations for undisinfected wells and other equipment for specific problems, and we recommend from the results. See well water vs municipal water.

Municipal water is disinfected and regulated at the plant; the usual household concerns are hardness, chlorine or chloramine, and plumbing-related metals. Well water is the owner’s responsibility; nothing is added or monitored unless you do it, so testing comes first and treatment can be more varied.

Clear access to the main water line (usually the basement or utility room) and, for RO, under the kitchen sink. Confirm there is a drain and a grounded outlet nearby, which we will have checked during the assessment. Plan for water to be off during the connection. Details on the installation page.

Whole-house systems: keep the brine tank stocked with salt or potassium chloride and keep the area accessible. The Clearess media has no cartridge to change under normal municipal conditions. RO systems: replace cartridges on the schedule in the manual, and the membrane less often. The manufacturer notes that operational maintenance and replacement requirements are essential for the product to perform as advertised.

It depends on hardness, water use and system size. A demand-initiated valve regenerates only when the resin needs it, which keeps use proportional to actual consumption. We estimate it for your home with the quote.

Each Puronics system comes with a written limited warranty. "Limited" means it has terms, conditions and exclusions; we go through them with you and provide the document. We do not describe coverage beyond what the document says, and we do not assume labor or consumables are included unless it states so.

Request an in-home water test. After the visit you receive a written quote that itemizes equipment, installation and warranty terms. We do not quote reliably without seeing the water and the house.

Because equipment, sizing and installation scope vary from home to home. Publishing a number that does not apply to your house would mislead more than it helps. Our guide to cost and ownership explains what drives the quote and how to compare proposals fairly.

Saratoga, Warren, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Washington, Hamilton, Fulton and Montgomery counties, from our base in Ballston Spa. See service areas.

We review it and follow up to arrange a time for the in-home assessment. A request is an inquiry, not a confirmed appointment, and nothing is booked until we have spoken with you.