Choosing a water softener in Queen Creek comes down to four things: your water’s hardness, the softener’s size, the standard it is certified to and how it is installed. This guide takes them in order.
Water Treatment Phoenix is an independent referral service, not an installer, plumber or water utility. When you send the form, your details go to an independent local water treatment pro who can contact you and prepare a quote.
Find your hardness
This site gives hardness figures only from a water provider’s own report, for that provider’s customers. Which provider serves each Queen Creek address, and its hardness, was not checked for this site. Find the provider’s name on your water bill and read its annual water quality report for total hardness. A test at your tap gives your own figure.
Read it on the USGS scale: 0 to 60 mg/L soft, 61 to 120 moderately hard, 121 to 180 hard, more than 180 very hard. One grain per gallon is about 17 mg/L. EPA lists scaly deposits and soap that will not lather as signs of hardness, with a softener as the treatment.
Size the softener
A softener removes every grain of hardness that comes in. Multiply your hardness in grains per gallon by the gallons your household uses in a day, from your water bill, and you have the grains it removes each day. The softener’s capacity divided by that figure shows how often it regenerates. Ask the pro to show this sum on the quote.
| Hardness | Gallons a day | Grains a day |
|---|---|---|
| 8 gpg | 250 | 2,000 |
| 12 gpg | 250 | 3,000 |
| 16 gpg | 250 | 4,000 |
The rows are arithmetic examples, not Queen Creek figures. Use your own hardness and your own water use, and expect a pro to do the same and to show the working on the quote.
Check the standard
For an ion exchange softener, look for NSF/ANSI 44, the standard for residential softeners that use a regenerable cation exchange resin. The general advice from water quality agencies is to choose a unit certified for what you want removed and to check that the certification covers it. Look the model up yourself rather than relying on a sales sheet.
Sodium and the water heater
A salt-based softener adds sodium in exchange for the hardness it removes. If anyone in the house watches their sodium, ask a doctor, and ask the pro about potassium chloride or reverse osmosis at the kitchen tap. Water utilities commonly note that some softening systems can increase corrosivity, which can damage a water heater’s anode; ask how the softener will be set.
Installation and permits
A softener goes on the main line where water enters the house, with a drain for regeneration water, power for the valve and room to reach the salt tank. Permit rules are set locally: check with the Town of Queen Creek, or ask the installer, before the work starts.
Want a softener quote for your Queen Creek home?
What the installer should show you
- How to put the softener in bypass and back into service.
- How to check and add salt.
- The hardness setting, and how it matches your water.
- How to tell when hard water comes back.
- The maker’s upkeep schedule.
Keep a note with the unit: the date, the model, the hardness it is set to and the readings before and after installation. Test the kitchen tap for hardness now and then; if spots and scale return, see softener repair and service for the safe checks before you ask for help.
If the house already has a softener
Your home may already have a softener loop in the garage, or a softener left by a previous owner. Check the model on the control valve, the salt level and the bypass before buying anything new; it may need service rather than replacement.
Softener, filter or reverse osmosis?
A softener treats hardness and nothing else. If you also notice a taste or odor, a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 42 for aesthetic effects is a separate part. If you want drinking water with fewer dissolved solids, reverse osmosis at the kitchen sink, certified to NSF/ANSI 58, is another. Ask for each on the quote with its certification.
Next steps
For more on softeners, see water softeners in Phoenix, softener installation and the areas page for nearby Valley cities. Send the form with your ZIP code, and an independent water treatment pro in the Valley can contact you and prepare a quote. Asking is free.
Ask a local pro