Find out whether your water is hard
Do not buy a softener before you know your number. The Town of Florence water quality page and the 2025 Consumer Confidence Report for Florence Water do not list hardness, so testing your tap is the reliable first step. Hardness varies by utility and by well.
- Ask your supplier.Florence Water serves the Town, EPCOR serves the Anthem area and parts of San Tan Valley, and Arizona Water Company serves Coolidge.
- Read the water quality report.Look for hardness in grains per gallon or milligrams per liter.
- Test your tap.A home test kit or a lab test tells you what arrives at your sink.
- Compare with the scale.The USGS classes water as soft up to 60 mg/L, moderately hard from 61 to 120, hard from 121 to 180 and very hard above 180.
Sources: Town of Florence, EPCOR, Arizona Water Company, USGS.
What EPCOR reports for its San Tan system
EPCOR's 2025 water quality report for its San Tan system lists hardness of 15 to 18 grains per gallon from groundwater. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so that range is about 257 to 308 mg/L, well above the USGS threshold for very hard water.
The report covers the San Tan system and does not name every neighborhood, so check your own bill or ask EPCOR which system serves your address before assuming that number applies to you.
EPCOR San Tan system, 2025 report. Position shown on a scale from 0 to 300 mg/L.
Arizona Water Company's 2025 Pinal Valley report for the Casa Grande and Coolidge areas does not give a hardness number either, so Coolidge customers should test their tap.
What hard water does to plumbing and appliances
Dissolved calcium and magnesium leave scale on heating elements, inside water heaters and on faucet aerators. Scale insulates the bottom of a tank heater from the burner and clogs a tankless heat exchanger. It spots glass, stiffens laundry and leaves film on shower doors.
A softener removes the hardness before it reaches the pipes. It does not filter contaminants, and it adds sodium in exchange. The 2025 Florence Water report lists sodium of 110 ppm, and the Arizona Water Company Pinal Valley report lists 170 to 290 ppm. People on sodium-restricted diets should ask a doctor about softened drinking water.
Test your water first
Call us with your address. We will explain how to get a hardness reading and what a system would involve.
Call (480) 741-9332Softener, filter or reverse osmosis
Each system solves a different problem.
| System | What it does | What it does not do |
|---|---|---|
| Salt-based softener | Removes hardness minerals from the whole house | Does not remove most contaminants. |
| Whole-house carbon filter | Reduces chlorine taste and odor | Does not soften water. |
| Reverse osmosis at the sink | Filters drinking water to a fine level | Treats one tap, not the whole house. |
| Sediment filter | Catches sand and particles | Does not address hardness or taste. |
Many homes use a softener for the house and reverse osmosis for the kitchen tap.
Repairing a softener that stopped working
Most softener complaints trace to a few causes: a salt bridge that stops brine from forming, a stuck control valve, a failed resin bed, a clogged injector or a power or timer fault. We check the settings, test the water before and after the unit and repair or replace the failed part.
If the system is old and parts are scarce, we tell you whether repair or replacement makes sense. Water conditioner repair and valve replacement are part of this work.
Installing a system
A proper installation includes a bypass valve, a drain connection for regeneration and an outlet for power. Placement matters because the unit needs a drain and a power source. We route it ahead of the water heater so scale never reaches it.
Tell us if you have a tankless heater. Softened water protects the heat exchanger, and we can set it up with isolation valves for later flushing. See tankless water heater for details.
What a softener or filter costs and what moves the price
You get a price before installation.
A softener, a carbon filter and reverse osmosis cost very differently.
Larger households and harder water need bigger units.
Garage installs with a drain are simpler than indoor closets.
Old shutoffs and unions may need replacement.
Salt, filters and annual checks are ongoing costs.
Want your real number? Call (480) 741-9332 and share your address.
Code note: drains and backflow at treatment systems
Softeners discharge regeneration water, and the UPC and IPC require an air gap or other approved connection at that drain. Treatment equipment should also meet the standards its maker lists, so ask for the model's certification.
Water treatment in Florence and nearby towns
We install and repair systems across Florence, at Anthem at Merrill Ranch and along Hunt Highway, and dispatch also covers Coolidge and San Tan Valley. For pipes damaged by scale, see repiping.
Questions about water softeners and filtration in Florence
Test your tap or read your supplier's water quality report. EPCOR's San Tan system lists 15 to 18 grains per gallon, and other suppliers differ. Florence Water's report does not list hardness.
No. It removes hardness minerals. A filter or reverse osmosis handles taste and contaminants.
The usual causes are a salt bridge, a stuck valve, a failed resin bed, a clogged injector or a power fault. We test and repair.
A softener adds sodium. People who restrict sodium should ask a doctor, and many install reverse osmosis at the kitchen tap.
It reduces scale buildup, which is a leading cause of heater and tankless wear.
We service the common brands. Tell us the make and model when you call.