Choose the Best Water Treatment for Your Arizona Home

Does your tap water in Chandler need a makeover?

If it frequently challenges your senses with odd odors and tastes, leaves white marks on fixtures and dinnerware, and gives you the creeps as you wonder what’s unseen in your drinking glass, you are ready to install a water treatment system.

If you’ve started looking into solutions, you’ve likely come across terms like water filter, water softener, and water conditioner—three types of water treatment systems—but it’s not always clear what each one actually does.

As your local water treatment experts in Greater Phoenix, Mason Pro Services breaks it all down for you in this blog. Understanding the differences can help you choose a water treatment system that is the best fit for your home and the unique water challenges you face.

First, let’s talk about the water that flows into your home.

The Water in Maricopa County Is Hard

The simple truth is that our water is notoriously hard. It ranges from hard to very hard, caused by a high concentration of dissolved minerals, primarily calcium and magnesium.

According to the City of Phoenix Water Services Department’s 2024 water quality report, the total hardness ranged from 158-344 ppm. Water with a range of 121-180 ppm is considered hard, and anything over 181 ppm is very hard.

Hard water can cause a lot of headaches in your Chandler, home.

• The buildup of mineral deposits, also known as limescale, can restrict water flow in pipes and reduce appliance lifespan and efficiency.

• Soap doesn’t lather well in hard water and can leave a residue behind.

• Hard water can leave white, cloudy spots on fixtures, dishes, and glassware. 

• Minerals in hard water can leave laundry and hair looking dull. Showering in hard water can lead to dry skin. 

You can thank mineral-rich desert soil and rocks, such as limestone, for contributing to the hardness of our water, which comes primarily from the Colorado, Salt, and Verde Rivers. However, you do not have to live with hard water.

A Water Softener Improves Hard Water in Phoenix

A softener uses a process called ion exchange to remove calcium and magnesium. It passes the hard water through a tank of resin beads, which swap the minerals for sodium or potassium ions.

A water softener eliminates scale buildup, protects appliances, such as water heaters, improves soap lathering, and leaves skin and hair soft.

A salt-based water softener is the most effective solution for preventing limescale on faucets and inside appliances, as well as for providing soft water for laundry and bathing.

Our Mason Pro Services experts typically install water softeners in two to four hours where the main line enters the home. That might be in a basement, garage, or utility room.

Condition Your Water Without Salt

Conditioners, also called descalers, don’t remove the hardness minerals. Instead, they change the structure of the calcium and magnesium ions to prevent them from adhering to your plumbing and appliances, which helps reduce scale buildup.

This is a low-maintenance, chemical-free option. If your primary goal is to reduce limescale in your pipes and water heater, but you don’t want to add sodium to your water, a salt-free water conditioner may be the best solution.

However, the conditioning process does not change the feel of hard water. You will not get softer laundry and better soap lathering, which a traditional softener provides. 

Our water treatment professionals at Mason Pro Services can help you determine if a conditioner is best for your household. We install conditioners in approximately 90 minutes to three hours on the main water supply line.

Filtering Reduces Impurities in Your Water Supply

A filter system deals with issues such as the taste, odor, and safety of your water.

A whole-house carbon filter or a reverse osmosis (RO) system traps or chemically absorbs contaminants. A carbon filter, for example, reduces chlorine and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), significantly improving the taste and odor of water. A sediment filter traps particles, such as dirt and sand.

An RO system, which typically installs under the kitchen sink, offers the highest level of purification for drinking water, removing even more contaminants, such as lead and cysts. One of them is Giardia, a parasite that causes diarrhea, nausea, abdominal cramps, and fatigue.

You need a dedicated filter or RO system if your water tastes or smells strongly of chlorine, you have sediment issues, or you simply want the absolute purest water for drinking and cooking. Some homeowners with water softeners add a filter for maximum water quality. 

A whole-house filter is installed on the main water supply line and takes from 90 minutes to three hours to install. An under-sink RO system is a 1 to 2-hour job.

Do I Need to Filter City Water?

Lead, bacteria, and other contaminants can sneak into your water supply even after it has been treated.

Lead can enter the water through corroded pipes and plumbing materials in your Chandler, home. Homes with older fixtures containing lead or copper pipes joined with lead-based solder, for example, can introduce lead to your tap water. The breakdown of the limescale coating inside your plumbing can also allow lead to leach into the water.

Water can become stagnant if you leave your home vacant for an extended period or don’t regularly use certain sections of pipe. Stagnant water can lead to the growth of bacteria and the release of other pipe materials, like copper. The solution is often to flush the lines, but a filter provides a continuous barrier against these issues.

Main breaks, low water pressure, and cracks in the system can also introduce bacteria into your water supply. A water main break or pressure drop can create a vacuum effect that allows untreated groundwater, runoff, and even sewage from surrounding soil to be sucked into the pipe through cracks or joints.

Filtering your water protects you from the short-term water advisories that can follow a main break, and an RO system can remove bacteria and other microbes if they do make it into your home.

A water filtration system dramatically improves the quality, taste, odor, and safety of the water you use every day.

Prioritize Clean, Safe, Tap Water Today!

Do you need a water softener, a water conditioner, a filtering system, or a combination of water treatment options? Mason Pro Services can help you choose the best solution for your Chandler, home. For a free water softener consultation, call us at 602-649-1385 or request service online.