What does my water need?

You’re on Cleveland water. The honest answer here’s a filter, not a softener.

Cleveland Water cleans and checks what leaves the plant. Their own advice says you don’t need to soften it. We won’t sell you a system to argue with your own water company. What is worth doing is treating the tap you drink from. Lead doesn’t come from the plant. It comes from the old pipe from the street to your house, and from your own pipes.

What usually fixes it: a filter on one tap, tested to take lead out.

Lead filtration at the tap you drink from →

You said you get chalky white buildup. Cleveland water is a little hard. The city still says you don’t need to soften it. We’ll measure yours and read you the number. If it argues fora water softener, we’ll say so. If it doesn’t, keep your money.

Water that tastes like a pool is the chlorine doing its job.Whole-house carbon takes the taste out, and it’s the cheapest thing on our list.

The Cleveland numbers, with every source linked.

You’re on Akron water. Carbon is usually what helps here.

Akron adds chlorine to keep the water safe, and chlorine leaves byproducts behind. The city has gone over a limit for those, said so, and fixed it. The dates and the numbers are on our Akron page. Carbon takes out the pool taste, the smell, and those byproducts.

What usually fixes it: whole-house carbon, sized to how much water you use at once.

Whole-house carbon for the pool taste →

Chalky white buildup is a separate problem. Carbon does nothing for it, and a softener does nothing for the pool taste. Your test says whether you need one, both, or neither.Water softeners for hard city water.

The Akron numbers, with every source linked.

City water outside Cleveland and Akron. We aren’t going to guess.

We haven’t read up on your water company yet. So we won’t tell you what is in your water. And we won’t borrow another city’s numbers to do it. That trick is how people end up buying the wrong thing. Tell us who bills you for water when you book. Then we’ll read their latest water report before we drive out.

Some things hold true on almost any city water. Carbon takes out the taste and the smell. A softener stops the chalky white buildup. But neither one is worth buying before someone measures your water.

What we sell, and what each one fixes →

Chalky white buildup, spotted glasses, and stiff towels all point one way. It takes a minute to measure on your counter.Water softeners for hard city water.

Water that tastes like a pool points at carbon.Whole-house carbon.

What we know about Northeast Ohio water.

A private well. The test decides the equipment, not the other way around.

Nobody watches your well but you. There’s no water company, no yearly report, and no one to call if something changes. That cuts two ways. Your test matters more here than anywhere else we work. And some of what we look for needsan outside lab, not a meter on your counter. Bacteria and arsenic are two of those. We’ll tell you which is which. You’ll know what the lab work costs before you agree to any of it.

What usually fixes it: an air-injection filter, set ahead of a softener. Rust stains and a rotten egg smell are the two signs that point here. Air does the work, so there are no chemicals to buy or refill.

Well water systems for rust stains and rotten egg smell →

Sometimes your test comes back with no rust and no smell. Then all you need isa water softener on its own. That costs less than the whole setup. It happens often enough that we won’t quote a setup before we test.

Geauga County wells have been studied in detail. Rust stains, black specks, arsenic and salt turn up the most.

What is known about wells in your county, and what isn’t. That includes why we won’t paste Geauga’s numbers onto your house.

Let us settle which one you’re first. It takes about thirty seconds.

Do you get a bill for water? Then you’re on city water. Do you have a pump and a tank in the basement and no bill? Then you’re on a well. Did someone leave a system behind that you do not understand? That one is worth a look on its own. We findequipment nobody has serviced in years more often than you would think.

That one answer changes the rest. What we test for. What might help. Whether anyone but you is watching the water. The free test settles it either way.

What the free water test checks →

What we know about Northeast Ohio water.

You said drinking and cooking water matters most. If you fix one thing, fix the tap you drink from. In almost every house we visit, that’s where the money does the most good.Under-sink reverse osmosis, tested to take out things that affect health.

With three or more bathrooms, size matters more than brand. A system that’s too small gives up when everyone showers at once. One that’s too big wastes salt and water for as long as you own it. We size yours from your numbers and your household, not from a chart.