Chattanooga · Buying guide
How to compare water treatment companies
There are several good water treatment companies around Chattanooga, and some of them have been at it far longer than we have. We are not going to tell you we’re the only one. What we will do is answer the four questions a buyer should be asking — so you can hold anyone, including us, to the same four.
The four questions
Our answers on the left. What to ask everyone else on the right.
Print this if it helps. We’d genuinely rather you bought a good system from someone else than a bad one from us.
1. Can you give me a price before you visit?
Springhouse Water Co.
Not an honest one, no. What your home needs depends on your test result and your plumbing, so we test first - free, at your sink, and you see the reading yourself - and quote off that. What we will not do is give you a number on the phone and then revise it upwards in your kitchen.
Ask anyone else
Ask whether the phone number and the in-home number are the same number. A quote that only ever appears in your living room is telling you something about how the close works.
2. How long is the in-home appointment?
Springhouse Water Co.
It is a water test, not a presentation. We read your water, tell you what it says, and tell you what we would fit and why. If the answer is that you do not need a system, that is the answer you get.
Ask anyone else
Ask how long to set aside. If the honest answer is three hours, that is a sales process, not a water test.
3. Who actually does the installation?
Springhouse Water Co.
A licensed plumber, on our own crew, permitted and tested on the spot. The person who measured your water is the person who signs off the install, and the old gear leaves with us.
Ask anyone else
Ask for the name of the person who will be in your house, and whether they are an employee or a subcontractor. Then ask who you call when something needs looking at in year three.
4. What does it cost me after year one?
Springhouse Water Co.
A softener needs salt, and a reverse osmosis system needs its filters changed. Those are the two ongoing costs and we will tell you both before you buy rather than after.
Ask anyone else
Ask the annual filter cost and whether there is a trip fee once the first year is up. This is the number that quietly separates a good deal from a bad one over ten years.
One more thing
The industry’s worst habits, named
If you see any of these, it isn’t a red flag about that one salesperson. It’s how that company is built.
The price that drops if you sign tonight
A price that falls by thousands because you hesitated was never the real price. Real pricing doesn't care what day it is.
Testing your water to frighten you
The precipitate demo — where tap water turns orange in a jar — shows dissolved minerals, which is what hard water is. It is not evidence your water is toxic. It's theater.
'Lifetime warranty' with nothing behind it
Ask which components and whether labor is included. If the answer isn't a table, there isn't one.
Financing quoted as the price
'$97 a month' is not a price, it's a payment. Ask for the cash number and the total you'll pay over the term. Both.
Then go and ask everyone else the same four.
Book the free water test first. Having a real reading for your own house makes every other conversation you have far easier.
Free water test
Find out what's actually in your water
We'll test your water at your kitchen sink, show you the result, and tell you what — if anything — you need. Free, and there's no system that fits every house.
- Free on-site water test
- Licensed plumber install
- Every price published