Why wells are different
City water arrives pre-treated and consistent. Your well delivers whatever the aquifer under your property happens to hold — and two wells a quarter-mile apart can test wildly differently, depending on depth, geology, and the well's age and construction. That's why our answer to "how much for a well system?" is always the same: free test first, then a number in writing. Anything else is theater.
The usual suspects
- Iron. The orange-brown stains in toilets, tubs, and laundry. Comes in dissolved ("clear water") and particulate ("red water") forms, and the treatment differs — one more reason to test rather than guess.
- Hydrogen sulfide. The rotten-egg smell, worst on hot water first thing in the morning. Harmless at typical levels but miserable to live with. Very common in Battle Ground and Brush Prairie.
- Sediment. Sand and grit that chews up fixtures, valves, and appliances. A prefilter is cheap insurance.
- Hardness. Well water here often tests harder than city water — everything in Guide 01 applies double.
- Bacteria & pH. Less common, more important. Coliform hits require UV treatment; acidic water quietly eats copper plumbing. Both only show up on a proper test.
Why one-size "well kits" fail
Big-box stores and some dealers sell a standard "well package" — usually a softener with an extra cartridge. If your problem is mild hardness, fine. If you have 3 ppm of dissolved iron and sulfur smell, that package will be exhausted in months and you'll conclude, wrongly, that treatment "doesn't work." Treatment works. Guessing doesn't.
What a real well test covers
Ours checks iron, hardness, hydrogen sulfide, sediment, pH, and total dissolved solids — the numbers that actually decide equipment. From there, a typical build stacks the right pieces in the right order: sediment prefilter, iron/sulfur filtration where the test calls for it, softening, UV purification if bacteria risk shows up, and RO at the sink if you want drinking-water polish.
Living with a treated well
Once the system matches the water, maintenance is boring in the best way: salt in the brine tank, scheduled filter changes, and an occasional check on the iron filter's backwash. We set the schedule with you at install and send reminders — no service contract required, no surprise visits.