Water Filtration & Reverse Osmosis in Phoenix, AZ

What Phoenix Tap Water Brings to Your Kitchen Faucet

Phoenix draws its tap water from several sources: the Salt and Verde rivers, Colorado River water carried in by canal, and groundwater wells. Each source picks up dissolved minerals along the way, and the city adds disinfectant before the water reaches your meter. Plenty of people find the result tastes flat, slightly salty, or faintly like a swimming pool. Late summer can bring an earthy or musty taste when algae grows in the canals during the heat. Households across Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, and Chandler end up hauling cases of bottled water home from the store because of it.

A filter chosen for what is in your water handles most of these complaints.

Whole-Home Filtration and Reverse Osmosis Compared

A whole-home system sits on the main line, usually in the garage or beside the exterior shutoff, and treats every gallon before it enters the house. A reverse osmosis unit sits under the kitchen sink and treats the water you drink and cook with. Most Phoenix homes do well with one or the other, and some use both.

Filtration and softening solve different problems. Valley water is very hard, and that hardness leaves white crust on fixtures and inside water heaters. A filter does little for scale. A softener does little for taste. We tell you which problem you have before we recommend any equipment.

Signs Your Phoenix Home Needs a Water Filter

These are the complaints we hear most often from homeowners who end up adding filtration.

• Ice cubes come out cloudy or leave white flakes in your glass.
• Coffee and tea taste bitter or chemical even with fresh beans.
• Your shower smells like pool chlorine when the water first runs.
• Fine sand or grit collects in faucet aerators.
• You buy bottled water every week for drinking and cooking.
• Tap water tastes earthy or musty in late summer.

If your main complaint is white spots on glass shower doors, start with a softener instead. If pressure has dropped across the whole house, the cause usually sits elsewhere in the plumbing, and you can browse our other plumbing services for that kind of problem.

How We Install Filtration Systems in Slab-Built Valley Homes

Homes around Phoenix sit on concrete slabs, so there is no basement to tuck equipment into. Whole-home systems typically go in the garage near the point where the main line rises, or outside next to the shutoff valve. Outdoor installs need shade, since direct Arizona sun breaks down plastic filter housings and heats the water sitting inside them. We add a bypass valve on every whole-home unit so the house keeps running water while a cartridge is out. For reverse osmosis, we mount the tank and filters to one side of the sink cabinet, add a dedicated faucet at the sink or countertop, and connect a drain line for the reject water. If your refrigerator has an ice maker, we can run the RO line to it as well.

Before any work starts, you get a flat-rate quote, and estimates are free. We offer same-week scheduling for installs.

Filter Changes and Reverse Osmosis Upkeep in Desert Heat

Every filter fills up eventually. Whole-home cartridges need replacing on a schedule that depends on the media and how much water your household uses. RO systems have prefilters that catch sediment and chlorine, plus a membrane that lasts longer but still wears out. Flow is the easiest sign to watch: when the drinking faucet slows to a dribble, the prefilters are loaded. A return of the old taste is the other sign. Hard Valley water shortens membrane life, which is one reason some homes pair RO with a softener. We set a replacement schedule at install and show you how to close the bypass if a housing ever starts to weep.

Plumbing problems in a Phoenix home are often connected. Low pressure at the tap can point to a failing pipe, so our Water Pressure Repair and Water Line Repair & Replacement pages are worth a look. If your hot water runs out fast or the tank is leaking, read about Water Heater Repair & Replacement. Want hot water on demand without a storage tank? See Tankless Water Heaters.