Frequently asked
Water filter installation questions answered
Including the ones where the answer is that you do not need us. If your question is not here, ask it and we will answer it the same way.
Do I actually need a water filter?
Often not, and we would rather say so before a visit than after. If you are on a well-run municipal supply with soft water, a copper service line and no detected contaminants of concern, the honest answer is a carbon cartridge for taste or nothing at all. The cases where equipment genuinely earns its cost are a confirmed contaminant, a lead or unknown service line, water hard enough to be shortening appliance life, or a private well, where nobody is testing but you.
How much does installation cost?
It depends far more on the plumbing than on the equipment. An under-sink system going in beside an accessible shutoff and a drain is a short job. The same system in a finished basement with no nearby drain, or in an apartment where the shutoff serves the whole line, is a different piece of work. Our cost guide sets out ranges with the assumptions stated, so you can see which situation you are in before anyone quotes.
What happens at a free water test?
We test what is actually at your tap, explain what the result means against the published figures for your utility, and tell you what if anything is worth installing. You get the results and a written recommendation whether or not you buy anything. The test exists because choosing equipment before testing is the most expensive mistake in this field.
Can you install a filter I bought myself?
Yes. We install equipment we did not sell, including systems bought online, and we will tell you before starting if what you have bought is wrong for your water rather than fitting it and staying quiet. The one thing we cannot do is warrant the unit itself, because that is the manufacturer's.
I rent. What can I install?
Anything that does not permanently alter the property is usually fine, and that covers more than people expect: countertop units, faucet-mounted filters, and several under-sink systems that connect without cutting into pipework. Anything on the main line needs the landlord's written agreement. In a co-op or condo the board rather than the landlord is the approval you need, and that process is slower.
Will a filter remove lead?
A filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead will, at the tap it is fitted to. The important detail is placement. Lead is picked up from the service line and the plumbing between the main and your tap, so a whole-house filter at the point of entry sits upstream of the problem and does nothing about it. This is the most consequential misunderstanding in residential water treatment.
How do I find out what is in my water without paying anyone?
Your utility publishes an annual water quality report, usually by 1 July, and it is free. It gives the source, the treatment, the hardness and the detected contaminants. The service line inventory, published separately under the federal rule, gives the recorded pipe material for your address. Our city pages summarise both for the towns we cover, with the publisher and year on every figure.
Do you work on private wells?
Yes, and a well is a different job from a municipal supply. Nobody samples a private well, no report is produced, and nobody will tell you if the water changes. That makes testing the starting point rather than an optional extra, and the baseline worth running is bacteria, nitrate, hardness, iron and pH, with arsenic and PFAS depending on where you are.
Is bottled water a reasonable alternative?
For a short period during a boil notice, yes. As a standing arrangement it costs considerably more than a filter over any reasonable timeframe, and bottled water is not held to a stricter standard than tap water in most respects. If the reason you are buying it is taste, a carbon filter solves that for a fraction of the running cost.
How long does an installation take?
An under-sink system is usually a morning. A whole-house filter or softener is most of a day, longer if the plumbing needs reworking to get a bypass in. Well water treatment with multiple stages can run to two days. The prerequisites on each installation page list what needs to be accessible, and having those ready is what keeps a job to one visit.
What areas do you cover?
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New York. We hold researched local water data for the towns listed on our service area pages, grouped by region, and we serve plenty of smaller places through the nearest listed town. If yours is not listed, send us the address rather than assuming we do not reach you.
How often will I need to change filters?
Sediment prefilters run three to twelve months, carbon six to twelve, reverse osmosis membranes two to five years, and ultraviolet lamps annually without exception. Those are starting points rather than answers, because your water and your household both shift the real interval, usually shorter. Write the date on the cartridge when you fit it.
Still not answered
Send the question with your address and we will answer it against your own utility's figures rather than in general terms. If the answer is that you do not need anything installed, that is the answer you will get.
The guides go into more depth on cost, reading a water quality report, and the choice between whole-house and point-of-use treatment. The water problems pages each cover how to confirm a problem before treating it, and each one includes the case for not treating.