Arizona health agencies keep finding Yavapai County private wells over the EPA’s 10 ppb arsenic limit — every well sampled in Cornville, and six of seven samples in Paulden. CreekWell sizes arsenic removal to your own water — a whole-house system, or reverse osmosis under the kitchen sink — and a lab retest after installation shows you the result.
Arsenic in Northern Arizona groundwater is geological. It leaches from the volcanic and granitic bedrock that underlies most of Yavapai County, and it shows up in measurable concentrations in a large share of private wells. The numbers are not small.
Peer-reviewed sampling published in the Journal of Contemporary Water Research & Education, and two health consultations by the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS), found:
Arsenic is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. There is no DIY way to detect it — certified lab testing is the only path. Long-term ingestion at levels above 10 ppb is associated with bladder, lung, and skin cancers, cardiovascular disease, and developmental effects in children. The EPA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services list inorganic arsenic as a known human carcinogen, and the World Health Organization’s cancer agency (IARC) classifies it as carcinogenic to humans.
Sources: M.C. Jones et al., “Arsenic Concentrations in Ground and Surface Waters across Arizona Including Native Lands”, Journal of Contemporary Water Research & Education 169(1):44–60, 2020 · ADHS, Arsenic in Private Drinking Water Wells, Cornville (2004) · ADHS for ATSDR, Evaluation of Metals in Private Drinking Water Wells, Paulden (2006) · ATSDR ToxFAQs: arsenic · WHO arsenic fact sheet. The longer local story is in our guide, Arsenic in Yavapai County well water.
There are three proven technologies for residential arsenic removal, and CreekWell installs all three. Which one fits depends on what your water test shows.
The Jaguar Package: a tank of iron-based media that grabs arsenic out of the water before it reaches any tap. Best for homes where every shower, sink, and laundry appliance should run arsenic-free.
$4,750Installed, flat rateAbout the systemThe Kitten (5-stage) or the Ocelot (6-stage, alkaline) at the kitchen sink. The most cost-effective answer if your concern is the water you drink and cook with.
$829Installed · $999 for the 6-stageAbout the RO systemsThe gold standard for high-arsenic wells. The whole-house system catches the bulk; an under-sink RO is a second barrier for drinking water. The price is simply the sum of the two listed prices.
$5,579With the Kitten · $5,749 with the OcelotArsenic comes in two forms, called arsenic III and arsenic V, and that decides what works. Most treatments catch arsenic V easily. Arsenic III has to be chemically converted first — a step called pre-oxidation — before anion exchange or reverse osmosis can take it out. The Bayoxide E33 media in the Jaguar Package has capacity for both forms, though AdEdge’s own literature notes it holds more arsenic V than arsenic III and recommends pre-oxidation where arsenic III dominates.
The $185 lab panel reports total arsenic, not the split between the two forms. So if the rest of your water chemistry points toward arsenic III, you hear about it before anything is ordered, and any pre-oxidation stage is quoted up front rather than discovered later. A retest after installation shows the number the system actually reaches, and CreekWell reads those results with you free.
A packaged residential arsenic adsorption system from AdEdge Water Technologies — the AdVantEdge Medallion Series POE, model POE-7-1354, running Bayoxide® E33 media. AdEdge says no other technology matches it for simplicity: no salt, no chemicals, no additives — just periodic automatic backwashing.
AdEdge systems are prescribed from a site water profile — arsenic level, pH, iron, silica — not guessed. The panel covers all four. The system is sized from your certified results, and the annual retest afterward proves it is working.
$185You order it from the labOrder the test kitAdEdge POE-7-1354 system, Bayoxide E33 media, pre-filter and parts, installation with loop plumbing, commissioning and a startup sample.
$4,750Installed, flat rateNot bookable yet. This work costs more than $1,000, which puts it outside what CreekWell can take on until its Arizona contractor licenses issue. The details here are accurate so you can plan and compare. Why
You do not need these tables to decide anything. They are here so you, or anyone you ask for a second opinion, can check the system against the manufacturer’s own sheet. The short version: a tank 13 inches wide and 54 inches tall that treats a whole house at 6–8 gallons a minute, and works best on water inside the limits in the third table — which is exactly what the $185 test measures.
| Item | Manufacturer figure |
|---|---|
| Tank | 13″ W × 54″ H · gravel/stone underbed · 160 lbs |
| Media | Bayoxide® E33 iron-based arsenic adsorption media (AdEdge AD33), 2.75–3 cubic feet depending on vessel |
| Flow | 6–8 GPM normal service · 8 GPM peak — sized for full-house supply |
| Backwash | Automatic cycles, up to 7 GPM · variable sequencing |
| Connections | 1″ MPT PVC inlet/outlet · ¾″ drain |
| Control valve | LCD readout · flow totalizer for media tracking · built-in sample ports · built-in flow controls |
| Operating range | 33–100°F |
| Item | Manufacturer figure |
|---|---|
| Arsenic range | 5–100 ppb influent (the manufacturer’s stated range) · treatment goal under 10 ppb total arsenic, the current EPA MCL |
| Types reduced | Arsenic V and arsenic III — greater capacity for arsenic V; AdEdge recommends pre-oxidation where arsenic III dominates |
| Removal efficiency | 90–99% typical |
| Media life | Depends on water quality and use — tracked by the flow totalizer and verified by the annual retest; the exchange is quoted flat when it is due |
| Spent media | Non-hazardous waste (passes EPA TCLP) — standard disposal |
Outside these limits the media works less well or needs help ahead of it. Every one of these is on the $185 panel.
| Item | Manufacturer figure |
|---|---|
| pH | 5.5–8.5 |
| Iron / manganese | under 0.5 mg/L / under 0.05 mg/L — higher levels get an iron filter ahead of the Jaguar |
| Silica / sulfides | under 30 mg/L / under 0.1 mg/L |
| Phosphate / sulfate / fluoride | under 0.5 mg/L / under 100 mg/L / under 1.0 mg/L |
| Hardness | under 300 mg/L — a softener is optional; if used, it goes before the AdEdge unit |
| Sediment | Pre-filter included in the install where the well needs it |
In plain terms: exchange resin and whole-house RO both need arsenic III converted first, both need salt or membrane cleaning, and RO sends a quarter to three-quarters of the water down the drain. The Medallion needs none of that.
| Feature | Anion exchange | Whole-House RO | The Jaguar Package (Medallion POE) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenic treated | As V only | As V only | As V and As III |
| Pre-oxidation needed | Yes | Yes | Not usually — only for heavily arsenic III water |
| Chemical use | Salt | Membrane cleaning | None |
| Water wasted | 5% | 25–75% | under 1% |
| Hazardous waste | Yes | Concentrated reject | None |
| Off-taste potential | Yes | No | No |
| Maintenance | High | High | Low |
| Arsenic “dumping” | Possible | N/A | No |
After the install: an annual retest confirms the number, the totalizer tracks gallons toward the media change, and the media exchange is quoted flat when it is due — no surprises years later. Pair it with an under-sink RO system ($829) for gold-standard drinking water on top of whole-house protection.
Figures from AdEdge Water Technologies’ AdVantEdge Medallion Series POE data sheet and product brochure. Bayoxide® is a LANXESS trademark.
Pricing depends entirely on which technology fits your water test and your home.
| Option | What it covers | Installed |
|---|---|---|
| Under-sink reverse osmosis | Drinking and cooking water at the kitchen sink — the Kitten (5-stage) or the Ocelot (6-stage alkaline) | $829 or $999 |
| Whole-house arsenic adsorption | Every tap in the house — The Jaguar Package | $4,750 |
| Whole-house + under-sink RO | The most protection: both of the above, priced as the sum of the two listed prices | $5,579 or $5,749 |
| Certified lab test | SimpleLab’s Drinking Water Test: Level 1 + Bacteria, 53 parameters, ordered by you from the lab | $185 |
Every system includes the two-year workmanship warranty plus the manufacturer’s warranty, and a lab retest after installation to confirm the result. On the whole-house system, the media exchange is quoted at current media pricing when the totalizer and the retest say it is due; AdEdge rates the media at 2 to 3+ years.
Same flat rate across the whole service area. This price applies everywhere in Yavapai County — Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, Dewey-Humboldt, Mayer, Paulden, Sedona, Cottonwood, the Verde Valley and the outer county — it is not a Prescott-only rate.
CreekWell covers arsenic removal for private well owners across all of Yavapai County: Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, Williamson Valley, Dewey-Humboldt, Mayer, Paulden, Sedona, Cottonwood, Camp Verde, Cornville, Rimrock, Lake Montezuma — every community in Yavapai County. No trip fee anywhere in the county, dirt road or not.
Related: complete well water treatment, under-sink reverse osmosis, certified water testing, and the guide Arsenic in Yavapai County well water — how common it is, and what the numbers mean.
Aqua Cat Plumbing & Water Treatment is now CreekWell Plumbing & Water Treatment. Same owner, same phone number.
We are adding Arizona contractor licenses, and we are not booking new work until that is done. New work restarts the first week of November. Jobs already on the schedule are not affected.
For new work, request a November visit or call or text 928-228-5770. Bookings go in the order they come in, at the prices published on this site. No deposit.
Not for new work. We are rebranding and adding Arizona contractor licenses. New work restarts the first week of November, once the licenses are issued. Jobs already on the schedule are not affected.
Leave your name on the list or call or text 928-228-5770. Bookings go in the order they come in, at the prices published on this site, with no deposit.
Only a certified lab test can tell you — arsenic is colorless, odorless, and tasteless.
A peer-reviewed compilation of 33,099 Arizona water samples (Jones et al., 2020) found 43.6% of Yavapai County samples above the EPA’s 10 ppb arsenic limit, and Arizona Department of Health Services work found every Cornville well sample above it, from 15 to 952 µg/L. The $185 Premium Water Test — SimpleLab’s Drinking Water Test: Level 1 + Bacteria, ordered directly from the lab — detects arsenic at low ppb levels alongside 52 other parameters. CreekWell reads the report with you free.
10 parts per billion (10 µg/L) — the EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for public drinking water.
The World Health Organization uses the same 10 µg/L figure. The EPA limit binds public water systems, not private wells, and many private wells in Yavapai County exceed it; in Cornville one sample measured 952 µg/L, 95× the legal limit. Long-term exposure above 10 ppb is associated with bladder, lung, and skin cancers.
If your test came back above 10 ppb arsenic, do not drink it, cook with it, or use it for ice or coffee until treatment is in place.
Bottled or RO-filtered drinking water is the right interim step. Showering and laundry water is generally fine — arsenic is a long-term ingestion risk, not a contact risk. Once booking reopens in November, an under-sink RO ($829) goes in during a single morning visit, and covers your drinking and cooking water while a whole-house system is sized.
$4,750 flat, installed — The Jaguar Package, the same price anywhere in Yavapai County.
That is an AdEdge system using iron-based Bayoxide E33 arsenic-selective adsorption media. Point-of-use reverse osmosis (drinking water only) is $829 for the 5-stage Kitten or $999 for the 6-stage Ocelot. The gold-standard combined approach — whole-house adsorption plus under-sink RO — is $5,579 or $5,749, the sum of the two listed prices. All include the two-year workmanship warranty and a lab retest after installation.
Yes — a properly installed reverse osmosis system removes most arsenic V at the membrane.
RO is on the EPA’s list of Best Available Technologies for arsenic, written for public water systems. The University of Arizona’s Cooperative Extension puts it at up to 95% removal and warns that results vary with the system, its upkeep and the starting level, which is why the treated water gets retested. RO membranes do not reject arsenic III as well, so for wells with arsenic III, CreekWell adds a pre-oxidation stage to convert it to arsenic V before the membrane.
Yes — and that changes which technology actually works.
Arsenic in well water comes in two forms: arsenic V, which most technologies can grab, and arsenic III, which anion exchange and reverse osmosis can only treat after a chemical pre-oxidation step. The Jaguar Package’s Bayoxide E33 adsorption media has capacity for both forms, with 90–99% typical removal. AdEdge notes the media is more effective on arsenic V and recommends pre-oxidation where arsenic III dominates. The $185 panel reports total arsenic rather than the two forms separately, so the rest of your chemistry is read with it, and anything that points to arsenic III is raised before the system is sized — prescribed, not guessed.
AdEdge rates the media at 2 to 3+ years, depending on water usage and arsenic concentration.
Lower arsenic levels stretch it further. You never guess at it: the control valve counts every gallon treated, and an inexpensive annual retest confirms the media is still catching arsenic, so the exchange is scheduled from results and quoted at current media pricing when it is actually due. You order that retest from the lab, and CreekWell reads the results with you free.
No. The spent Bayoxide E33 media passes the EPA’s TCLP leaching test and is classified as non-hazardous waste.
It goes to a standard landfill, with no hazardous-waste handling or fees, and the arsenic stays chemically bound to the media instead of being flushed anywhere. Media life depends on your water chemistry and usage; the control valve’s flow totalizer counts every gallon treated, and the annual retest confirms performance, so the media exchange gets scheduled before breakthrough, not after.
New work restarts the first week of November, once we finish rebranding and the contractor licenses are issued. Jobs already scheduled are not affected.
