Water softeners · Corrales
A softener sized for your Corrales well, not a city tap
Well water goes straight from the aquifer to your fixtures with nothing in between. If it's hard, every faucet, showerhead and water heater in the house pays for it.
Book the free test first. In about 15 minutes we'll measure hardness, iron and the rest at your sink, and you'll know whether a softener is worth it before anyone talks price.
Why hardness hits harder on a private well
In Corrales there's no village water system, so your water is whatever your well delivers. Nobody upstream blends it, adjusts it or reports on it. Groundwater picks up calcium and magnesium as it moves through the valley sediments, and how much depends on your particular well.
A softener uses ion exchange to pull those minerals out before the water reaches your plumbing. It can also handle a small amount of iron, which helps if your test shows a little orange staining. Our 48,000-grain system uses a digital metered valve, so it regenerates based on the water you've actually used rather than on a timer.
Signs Corrales owners tell us about
- White crust on the shower glass and around faucets
- Cloudy glasses straight out of the dishwasher
- A water heater or tankless unit that's losing efficiency
- Dry, tight skin after a shower in the desert air
- Faint rust-colored rings in toilets or sinks
Rust stains can point to iron. A softener copes with small amounts; heavier iron needs specialty media, which your test will reveal.
What a Corrales install looks like
About half a day, done by our own installers. Here's what we plan around on a well property.
| Where it goes | After the well's pressure tank, so the softener sees steady pressure and treats all the water headed into the house. |
|---|---|
| Typical location | A garage or utility room is most common. On some acreage the pressure tank sits in a well house, and we'll look at whether there's room and a sensible spot there or closer to the house. |
| Outdoor lines | Hose bibs for pastures, orchards and gardens can stay on unsoftened water, which keeps the softener working only for the house. |
| Drain | The softener needs a drain for regeneration. We'll walk you through where it discharges on your property before we start. |
| Bypass | A built-in bypass valve lets you send untreated water through if you ever need to. |
What a softener won't do
Softening isn't purification. It doesn't remove nitrate, arsenic or bacteria, and nitrate is the one Corrales well owners have reason to watch, given how many lots pair a well with a septic system. If you want lab results on those, we'll help you arrange them, and if nitrate or arsenic needs reducing in your drinking water, reverse osmosis at the kitchen sink is the tool for that job.
The softener is the starting point of our three packages. Soft Water Essentials is $2,495 installed. If your test shows sediment or taste issues as well, Soft + Filtered Home puts the softener and catalytic carbon in one tank for $3,450. Financing starts at $59/mo. You can read more about how softeners work on our water softener page, or go back to our Corrales overview.
Corrales softener questions
Should my barn and irrigation hose bibs get softened water?
Usually not. We typically leave outdoor and barn lines on untreated well water so the softener only treats what goes into the house, which keeps salt and regeneration water down.
Can a softener handle the iron in my Corrales well?
A softener can handle small amounts of iron along with hardness. If your test shows more than that, we'll talk about specialty filter media instead of overloading the softener.
Will the softener protect me from nitrate in my well?
No. Ion exchange softening targets calcium and magnesium. Nitrate needs a lab test to measure and, if you want it reduced in drinking water, a point-of-use reverse osmosis system.
Where will you put it if my pressure tank is in a well house?
We'll look at both the well house and the house itself. The softener has to come after the pressure tank and needs a drain and power for the valve, and we'll recommend the spot that fits those needs best.
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.