Water Filtration · Nashville, TN
The Nashville homeowner's guide to water treatment
What the work involves, what drives the price, what your options are, and what a bad job looks like — written so you can judge any water treatment specialist in Middle Tennessee, including us.
Estimate request
What is wrong with the water at your tap?
Straight to us, and a reply the same day.
By Michael Blair, owner, Nashville's Water Filtration · who we are
Warning signs
How to know you need us
Recognize one? Have it looked at before it grows.
- Spots and film on glasses and shower doors
- Soap and detergent that will not lather
- A chlorine or rotten-egg smell from the tap
- Orange or brown staining in sinks, tubs and toilets
- Scale building on fixtures and shortening water heater life
- Buying bottled water because you do not like how it tastes
Your options
More than one right answer.
Plenty of homes need a carbon filter and nothing else; some need a softener, and a few need RO or iron treatment. Here is what each one fixes and what it does not.
Whole-home carbon filtration
Removes chlorine, taste and odor at the point of entry. The right first step on most city water in this region.
Water softener
Ion exchange for hardness, sized to your grains and metered so it regenerates on demand rather than on a timer.
Reverse osmosis
The most thorough treatment, used under the sink for drinking and cooking or whole-home where the water needs it.
Well-specific treatment train
Sediment, then iron and sulfur, then softening, then disinfection. Sequence matters more than any single component.
What it costs
What actually drives the price.
A treatment system is sized from a water test, the household’s daily use and the plumbing it ties into, which is why a number over the phone means little. These are the variables that matter.
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What is actually in the water
A test decides the system. Hardness, chlorine, iron, sulfur, sediment and bacteria each need different treatment, and the wrong unit treats none of them.
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City water or well
City water is a known, treated baseline. A private well is an unknown until it is tested, and well systems are usually multi-stage.
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Flow rate and household size
A system undersized for your fixture count starves the shower when the washing machine runs. Sizing follows flow, not house size.
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Point of entry or point of use
Whole-home treatment at the meter is a different install from an under-sink unit, and most homes benefit from both doing different jobs.
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Plumbing and drain access
Softeners and RO systems need a drain and, usually, power. Where those are not near the entry point, the install is the cost rather than the unit.
Estimates are free, written and without obligation. Anything found only after starting is priced up front.
What happens
From your call to the finished job.
Test first
A laboratory or on-site test of your actual water. Nobody should specify equipment before this, and we will not.
Recommendation in writing
What was found, what it means, what treats it and what it costs to run — including salt and filter changes.
Installation
Most whole-home systems are half a day to a day, including the drain and any electrical.
Commissioning and service
System started, hardness re-tested at the tap, and a service schedule set for filters, media and salt.
Done badly
What goes wrong, and why it matters.
Shortcuts that cheapen the quote and cost you later. Ask anyone you are considering about them.
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Buying equipment before testing
It is the entire trade in one sentence. Untested water is a guess, and softeners do nothing for sulfur.
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Timer-based regeneration
A softener on a timer regenerates whether it needs to or not, wasting salt and water. Metered units cost slightly more and pay it back.
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Undersizing for flow
A unit sized to the house rather than the fixture count drops pressure whenever two things run at once.
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Softening drinking water without an RO
Ion exchange adds sodium. It is fine for the house and worth a separate drinking tap for people watching intake.
Before you hire anyone
Six questions worth asking any water treatment specialist.
Including us. If a water treatment specialist cannot answer these easily, that is the answer.
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Did you test my water, and can I see the numbers?
A test — hardness, iron, chlorine, whatever applies — with the results shown. A system sold without one is sized for the sale.
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Is this system sized for my water and my family, or is it the one you sell?
Sized from the hardness, the flow and the household, and the answer explains the math. Three times what the water needs is the trade’s habit.
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Do I need a whole-house system, or would a softener and a kitchen filter do?
Sometimes the smaller answer is the right one, and an honest specialist says so. The product the water needs, nothing more.
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Who makes the plumbing connection, and is a permit needed?
A licensed plumber where the connection requires one, and the permit pulled where the jurisdiction asks. Ask who is doing that part.
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What does it cost to run — salt, filters, service — per year?
A number for the consumables and the service interval, up front. A system is a subscription, and the quote should say so.
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What is warranted, and who services it?
The tank and the valve carry the maker’s term; the install is the installer’s, in writing, with someone local to service it.
FAQ
Choosing a water treatment specialist in Nashville
How do I choose a water treatment specialist in Nashville?
Every water treatment specialist on our crews carries liability insurance on file with us and installs through a licensed plumber where the connection requires one. Ask the six questions below of anyone, including us.
Should I get more than one quote for water treatment?
Yes — and compare the scope, not the total. Water treatment in Nashville is priced by the equipment the test calls for — a softener sized by hardness and household, a whole-house filter by flow, reverse osmosis by the tap — plus the installation and the service schedule, all on one quote after the test.
Is the cheapest water treatment quote usually a bad idea?
Not automatically; a low number is information. A softener for water that is not hard is a monthly salt bill for nothing.
Do I need a permit for water treatment in Nashville?
Metro Nashville and the surrounding counties permits the plumbing connection for a whole-house system in some jurisdictions and requires a drain connection that meets code; the installer should know which applies.
How far in advance should I book water treatment?
A water test in Nashville is usually within the week; the equipment installs in a day once it arrives, and the service visits follow the schedule in the quote.
Free estimate
Want your Nashville water tested?
Tell Nashville's Water Filtration what you notice in the water and whether it comes from the city or a well. A written estimate follows, free, and you owe nothing for asking.