Whole-home filtration · Bernalillo
Why your Bernalillo shower smells a little like a swimming pool
It's the disinfectant, it's there on purpose, and you can take it out at the point where water enters your house.
Where the smell comes from
The Town of Bernalillo treats its well water in two stages. Pressure filters dosed with ferric chloride pull out naturally occurring arsenic, and then sodium hypochlorite, the same family of chemistry as household bleach, is added to disinfect. A small chlorine residual is meant to stay in the water all the way through the town's pipes so it stays protected until it reaches you. The town's annual water quality report covers the details.
That residual is a good thing for the water system. It's also what you smell when you run a hot bath, and what some people taste in iced tea or a glass straight from the tap.
The fix is carbon, not a softener
Catalytic carbon is the media that reduces chlorine taste and odor. A softener doesn't touch chlorine at all. In our Soft + Filtered Home package, both medias sit in a single tank, so you get scale protection and better-tasting water from one piece of equipment for $3,450 installed.
Why whole-home instead of a pitcher
A pitcher filter only helps what you pour from the pitcher. Most of the chlorine smell people complain about comes from hot water, where it's released as steam: showers, baths, the dishwasher. Treating water where the main line enters the house means every faucet and showerhead gets filtered water, including upstairs bathrooms and the laundry.
Being honest about the limits
Carbon is good at chlorine taste and odor, sediment, and many VOCs. It does not remove arsenic, nitrate or hardness. On Bernalillo town water, arsenic is handled at the treatment plant. If you want additional drinking-water treatment at the kitchen sink, look at reverse osmosis in Bernalillo. For scale on fixtures, that's a softener's job.
If your home is outside the town system on a private well, the reasons for filtration are different. You probably won't have chlorine, but you might have iron, manganese or a sulfur smell, and specialty media can sometimes help with those. We'll get you lab testing for bacteria, nitrate and arsenic before recommending anything.
Carbon filtration at a glance
| Reduces | Chlorine taste and odor, sediment, many VOCs |
|---|---|
| Doesn't remove | Arsenic, nitrate, hardness |
| Configuration | Catalytic carbon combined with softening resin in one tank |
| What the free test checks | Chlorine, hardness, TDS, pH, iron and manganese, sulfur |
| Install time | About half a day, by our own installers |
| Price | $3,450 installed, financing from $59/mo |
How a Bernalillo filtration install goes
- 1
Measure the chlorine
We test at your tap so you can see the disinfectant residual for yourself, along with hardness and the other basics.
- 2
Find the main line
Garage in newer homes; utility closet or side yard entry in many older ones near the historic center. We plan the location before install day.
- 3
Install and flush
The tank goes in ahead of the water heater, we flush the new media, and most people notice the difference the first time they shower.
Read more on our main whole-home filtration page, see all options on the packages page, or book your free water test. New to the area's water? Start with the Bernalillo overview.
Is the chlorine in Bernalillo water harmful?
Disinfection is a normal, required part of public water treatment, and the town reports on its water each year in its Consumer Confidence Report. Filtration is about taste and smell, not fixing a safety problem.
Will whole-home filtration remove arsenic?
No. Carbon doesn't remove arsenic. The town treats for it at the source, and reverse osmosis at the kitchen sink is the usual option if you want more.
Can I get filtration without a softener?
Our standard setup combines carbon with softening in one tank, since most homes benefit from both. If your test shows you don't need softening, we'll talk through it honestly.
Does the carbon need replacing?
Catalytic carbon lasts a long time in a whole-home tank. We'll explain what to expect for your water use when we install.
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.