Complete water treatment systems
Quick answer
Six complete systems in two separate ladders, because city water and well water are genuinely different problems. Every list opens with a water test, from a $233 starter setup to a $6,820 premium well train.
Pushing both water sources through one ladder would give bad advice to both. A city customer has a utility that treats water to a regulated standard and publishes a Consumer Confidence Report every year at no charge. A well owner has no utility, no report and no operator, and nobody tests the water but them.
Every list starts with a test rather than with equipment, and that is not a formality. Iron filters are specified by the form of the iron and by pH, neutralizers by how far the pH sits below range, and ultraviolet by flow and water clarity. None of that can be chosen from a symptom.
City water
Your utility treats the water to a regulated standard and publishes a Consumer Confidence Report every year at no charge. The usual complaints are hardness, chlorine or chloramine taste, and scale. Start with that report and a hardness strip.
- Starter $233 The lowest cost city water setup that measurably improves something: a hardness test, a two stage whole house filter for chlorine and sediment, and the gauges that tell you when to change it. 6 items
- Complete $1,515 A laboratory test, a metered softener sized on measured hardness, three stage whole house filtration and an under sink reverse osmosis system for drinking water. 10 items
- Premium $2,925 A high efficiency softener, three housing staged filtration with catalytic carbon for chloramine, tankless reverse osmosis and appliance scale protection. 12 items
Well water
There is no utility, no annual report and no operator. Nobody tests it but you. The usual problems are iron, manganese, sulfur odor, low pH and sometimes bacteria, and every one of them is specified from a certified laboratory result rather than from a symptom.
- Starter $700 The honest first step on a private well: a certified laboratory test and a bacteria screen, then a spin down prefilter and two stage filtration once you know what you have. 7 items
- Complete $2,443 Sediment, then air injection iron and sulfur removal, then softening, then ultraviolet. The order is not cosmetic and getting it wrong is what fouls the expensive parts. 11 items
- Premium $6,820 Acid neutralization, a large air injection bed, twin tank softening, monitored ultraviolet and reverse osmosis. For wells where a standard train has already failed to keep up. 16 items
Get the complete water treatment shopping list
Every item in the starter, complete and premium systems for both city water and well water, with running totals, in one printable list. It opens with the test kit, because that is genuinely the first purchase. No charge.
One list, no sequence of daily emails, and you can leave at any time.
Researched, not professional advice. These systems are compiled from published standards, manufacturer specifications and owner-review consensus, not hands-on testing. Nothing here diagnoses a water problem or says any product makes water safe to drink. Totals are equipment only and exclude plumbing labor, a drain line, electrical work and permits. Bacteria, nitrate, lead, arsenic and PFAS are not do it yourself topics and need a certified laboratory result and usually a licensed professional rather than a boxed system.