Whole-home filtration · Placitas
Whole-home filtration for water that comes out of the rock
Every Placitas tap tells a slightly different story. One household on a private well notices a faint sulfur smell in the hot water. Another, on a co-op line, picks up a chlorine note in the shower. A third, sharing a cluster well with neighbors, keeps cleaning fine grit out of faucet aerators. All three call it "something in the water," and all three need different answers.
That variety comes from the ground. Placitas groundwater flows through fractured rock in the Sandia foothills, so what a well delivers depends on which fractures it taps. Add in co-op systems with their own sources and treatment, like the Las Acequias de Placitas system drawing spring water from the Sandias, and you can see why we test before we recommend anything.
Carbon has limits
Catalytic carbon reduces chlorine taste and odor, sediment and many VOCs. Arsenic, nitrate and hardness are outside what carbon can do. If your concern is arsenic, which occurs naturally in groundwater in parts of the region, the answer is reverse osmosis at the kitchen sink, not a whole-home filter.
What we test for at your Placitas tap
The free on-site test runs about 15 minutes, with real-time results and a printed report in plain English. Here's what it covers and why each item matters for filtration choices:
- Hardness
- Total dissolved solids
- pH
- Chlorine
- Iron and manganese
- Sulfur
If you're on a private or shared well, we'll also help you arrange lab testing for bacteria, nitrate, arsenic and more. If bacteria turns up, that calls for disinfection, and we'll refer you rather than sell you a filter.
Filtration options, matched to test results
We only add specialty media when your test shows a reason for it.
| Catalytic carbon | Our standard whole-home media. Reduces chlorine taste and odor, sediment and many VOCs. Paired with a softener in one tank in the Soft + Filtered Home package. |
|---|---|
| Iron and manganese media | For wells where the test shows iron or manganese beyond what a softener handles. Addresses staining and metallic taste. |
| Sulfur media | For the rotten-egg smell some wells produce, once the test confirms sulfur is the cause. |
| Not covered by filtration | Arsenic, nitrate and hardness. Hardness goes to the softener; arsenic and nitrate go to point-of-use RO. |
| Installation | After the pressure tank on a well, or at the main line on co-op service. Free, about half a day, our own installers. |
| Warranty | Lifetime |
Fitting it into a Placitas home
Most installs go in the garage or a utility room near where the water line enters the house. On a cluster well we tie in on your home's own branch, never the shared line. Because water is precious here, we'll tell you upfront what a system needs from you, including any backwash or regeneration water, so there are no surprises on a well with limited production.
The Soft + Filtered Home package is $3,450 installed, and financing starts at $59/mo. See how it compares on the packages page, learn more on our main whole-home filtration page, or return to Placitas water treatment. When you're ready, book your free water test.
Placitas filtration FAQs
Our co-op water tastes like chlorine. Will a whole-home filter help?
Yes. If your co-op disinfects with chlorine, catalytic carbon reduces the chlorine taste and odor throughout the house.
Will a whole-home filter make my Placitas well water safe to drink?
A filter improves taste, odor and sediment, but it doesn't remove arsenic, nitrate or bacteria. A lab test tells you what's there. Arsenic and nitrate are handled by RO at the sink, and bacteria needs disinfection.
Does filtration waste a lot of water?
It depends on the media. We'll explain the water use of whatever we recommend for your home, so you can weigh it against what your well or co-op supply can spare.
We share a well with two neighbors. Do they need filtration too?
No. Each home can choose its own treatment, and we install on your branch only.
Find out exactly what's in your water — free.
A 15-minute on-site test with results in real time, a plain-English report, and an honest recommendation. No pressure, no obligation.