"Do I need a softener or a filter?" is the question we get most. The honest answer is that it depends on what's in your water. Here's a simple way to sort it out.
Start with the symptom
Each common problem points to a different cause:
- White crust on faucets and spotty glasses: hardness. That's calcium and magnesium.
- Orange or brown stains: iron.
- Rotten-egg smell: hydrogen sulfide, also called sulfur.
- Chlorine taste or smell: city water treatment.
Most North Florida water comes up through limestone, so hardness is common on both city water and wells. Iron and sulfur are mostly a well-water thing.
What a softener does
A softener swaps the calcium and magnesium in your water for a small amount of sodium. That stops scale from building up in your pipes, water heater and fixtures, and it helps soap work better. It can also handle a little iron.
What a softener doesn't do: it won't get rid of a sulfur smell or a chlorine taste, and it isn't built for a lot of iron.
What a filter does
"Filter" covers a lot of different things. The two that matter most here:
- Carbon filters take out chlorine taste and smell. They're a good fit for city water.
- Oxidizing filters take out iron, manganese and sulfur. They're a good fit for wells.
Neither one removes hardness.
When you need both
A lot of homes have more than one problem at once:
- City water: hard water plus chlorine taste. A softener with carbon filtration, like our Standard Softener + Filtration, covers both.
- Well water: hard water plus iron and sulfur. An oxidizing filter followed by a softener, like our Well Water Dual Tank, handles all three.
What about salt-free systems
Salt-free systems are sometimes sold as softeners. They work differently. Instead of removing hardness, they change how it behaves so less scale sticks. That can help in some homes, but the water isn't softened, and they don't do anything for iron or sulfur.
And drinking water
Whole-home systems treat the water for the whole house. If you also want cleaner water for drinking and cooking, a reverse osmosis system at the kitchen sink is the usual add-on.
You don't need to figure this out on your own. A water test tells you exactly what's in there, so you only pay for what fixes your problem.
What to do next
Book a free water test. We'll test at your kitchen sink, walk you through the results and give you a written recommendation. If you don't need a system, we'll tell you that too.