The Panther Package

For wells with rusty stains or a rotten-egg smell and hard water: an iron and sulfur filter first, then a water softener.

• Your lab test shows more iron than a softener handles on its own — Charger says about 2 ppm of clear-water iron — or iron that has already turned rusty, iron bacteria, manganese, or a rotten-egg smell from the cold tap too. Below that, a softener alone may do (see the Bobcat).
• Your well water is also hard.

• Remove arsenic, bacteria, nitrate or PFAS.
• Fix a smell that is only in the hot water — that usually starts in the water heater (University of Nebraska).

Iron and sulfur filter

Chosen from your lab test. Charger’s standard is the Iron Breaker, an air-draw filter: it keeps a pocket of air in the tank that turns dissolved iron and hydrogen sulfide into particles the media traps, then backwashes them out and draws in fresh air, briefly emptying the tank of water to do it. No chemicals (Charger). Media options include Filter-Ag, NextSand, Katalox Light and catalytic carbon. An ozone generator can be added to sanitize the tank at each cleaning (Charger). The model and media are on your written estimate.

Charger Iron Breaker sizes

Tank	Media	Steady flow	Backwash (spec sheet)	Drain flow in Charger’s settings
10″ × 54″	1 cu ft	5 gpm	6.5 gpm	4–5.3 gpm
12″ × 52″	1.5 cu ft	7 gpm	7.5 gpm	6.5–9 gpm (listed for 12″ × 48″)
13″ × 54″	2 cu ft	7 gpm	9 gpm	8–13 gpm

Sizes, steady flow and backwash: Charger’s Iron Breaker spec sheet. Drain flow: Charger’s programming table, where the lower figure is for catalytic carbon and the higher for Filter-Ag, NextSand or Katalox Light. Your well has to keep up with it.

Water softener

A Charger CWWS1 softener sized to your water — the sizes are on the Bobcat page.

Valves

Clack WS1 valves with bypasses on both tanks.

• We found no NSF listing for a Charger iron filter or softener as a system (checked September 2026).
• Charger says its Iron Breaker with a Fleck valve earned the WQA Gold Seal; the Clack-valve version is not named. The Clack WS1 valve is certified to NSF/ANSI 44, 61 and 372 (valve only).

• The filter by your well’s flow and iron level; the softener by hardness plus 4 grains for every ppm of clear-water iron (Charger’s worksheet).
• Penn State: catalytic carbon handles dissolved iron under 1 ppm and needs at least 4 ppm of dissolved oxygen; greensand-type oxidizing filters suit combined iron and manganese of 3–10 ppm; above 10, oxidation followed by filtration works best. The media is chosen to match.

• Iron Breaker: 5–7 gpm steady by size (table above). Softener: see the Bobcat.
• For scale: a shower head uses up to 2.5 gallons a minute (gpm) and a kitchen faucet up to 2.2 gpm (federal limits, EPA).

• Charger publishes no maximum iron or hydrogen sulfide for the standard Iron Breaker. For the ozone version its typical water is iron under 5 ppm, manganese under 1 ppm and pH above 6.5.
• Water pressure 40–90 psi and temperature 40–100°F (Charger’s manual; the valve alone is rated 20–125 psi).

• Salt: the softener only — about 8–10 fifty-pound bags a year for 2 people on a 20-grain well (our arithmetic); the Bobcat gives other households.
• Water, iron filter: Charger’s iron-filter settings run a 10-minute backwash and an 8-minute rinse every 2 days, at the drain flows in the table above: about 70–235 gallons each time, roughly 13,000–43,000 gallons a year (our arithmetic), plus the tank of water the air draw empties. The media and tank size set where in that range yours falls.
• Water, softener: about 41–96 gallons each time it regenerates, by size — about 1,980–2,470 gallons a year for 2 people on a 20-grain well with a 48K (our arithmetic; see the Bobcat).
• Electricity: two outlets that are always on; the iron filter’s valve draws 0.25 amps (Charger).

• Room for the filter tank, the softener tank and the salt tank in a row at your loop, on a firm, level floor.
• A drain that can take the backwash flow; two outlets that are always on.
• At least 10 feet of pipe from where treated water leaves the system to the water heater’s cold-water inlet (Charger’s manual). If yours is closer, the extra pipe is quoted before any work.
• Septic: the backwash water above goes to the septic system — ask Neil to size it against your tank and field.
• Indoors: the Iron Breaker’s plug-in transformer is for dry locations only, and no part of the system may sit where the temperature could drop below 34°F (Charger’s manual).

• Softening adds about 8 mg of sodium per liter for every grain of hardness it removes (University of Nebraska).
• On Prescott city water (4.3–7.6 grains per gallon) that is about 34–61 mg per liter. On a 20-grain well it is about 160 mg per liter. (Our arithmetic.)
• EPA advises no more than 20 mg per liter for people on a very-low-sodium diet (500 mg a day), and says older people may be more sensitive to sodium.
• Lower-sodium choices: leave the kitchen cold tap unsoftened (extra plumbing, quoted flat); add an under-sink reverse osmosis system, which removes sodium (CDC) — the Kitten; or use potassium chloride instead of salt, which Charger allows. Ask your doctor about potassium first if you have kidney or heart disease, diabetes or high blood pressure, or take medicines that affect potassium (Virginia Tech Extension).

$3,400 installed, flat, anywhere in Yavapai County. Arizona sales tax on the parts is already in that price (CreekWell’s invoice terms). What is not included is listed below.

Not bookable yet. This work costs more than $1,000, which puts it outside what CreekWell can take on until its Arizona contractor licenses are issued. The details here are accurate so you can plan and compare. Why not yet?

Included

• Installation on your loop; any new loop plumbing is quoted up front
• Programming both valves
• Testing before Neil leaves
• CreekWell’s two-year workmanship warranty

Not included

• Lab water testing (see Testing)
• Salt
• A drain if none is close enough — quoted first. A new outlet is electrical work, arranged separately
• Extra pipe if there is less than 10 feet of pipe between the system and the water heater (Charger’s manual) — quoted first
• The ozone option, if your water calls for it — on your estimate

Running costs

• Salt: about 8–10 fifty-pound bags a year for 2 people on a 20-grain well (our arithmetic; the Bobcat sheet gives other households).
• Water: roughly 13,000–43,000 gallons a year of iron-filter backwash, plus about 1,980–2,470 for the softener (2 people on a 20-grain well with a 48K; our arithmetic).
• Power: two always-on outlets; the iron filter’s valve draws 0.25 amps (Charger).
• Parts: iron-filter media and softening resin, when used up.
• Neil has not published prices for this package’s replacement parts yet; your written estimate lists today’s prices before you approve anything.

Paying

• A 50% deposit sets the install date; the rest is due when it is in and tested.
• The written estimate is good for 30 days. If you cancel after the three business days the FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule gives when you sign at home, what happens to the deposit (for example, parts already ordered for you) is written on the estimate before you sign.
• Zelle, cash or check: no fee. A card fee, if you pay by card, is shown as its own line on the estimate (payment terms).

• Charger’s is a limited warranty to the original buyer. Charger repairs or replaces a defective part without charging for its own factory work; you pay the shipping to send the part back.
• The 10 years are written for “any residential Pentair mineral tank”. The tank brand is on your written estimate.
• Charger does not cover: freezing, water above 120°F or pressure above 120 psi; a vacuum on the water line; damage from improper installation or maintenance, or any change from the original design; or damage from any circumstance beyond Charger’s control.
• The tank years apply only where the tanks were first installed, and the warranty does not cover consequential damages (other losses a failed part causes, beyond the part itself).
• Charger does not pay for the labor to take the old part out and fit the new one. Who pays that, in the first two years and after, is written on your estimate.
• To claim: call Neil, the installer, or Charger directly.
• Read the full warranty before you buy — it is linked under Documents.

• Before: a certified lab test (SimpleLab’s Level 1 + Bacteria, $185 at SimpleLab’s price, covers arsenic and bacteria). For iron and sulfur, Penn State says to know the iron and manganese level and form, the pH, the oxygen in the water and whether iron bacteria are present. SimpleLab’s Biofilm Bacteria test ($321 at its price) checks for iron and sulfur bacteria; it is optional, for when your report or Neil’s reading of it points to them.
• After: tested before Neil leaves — included.

• Installs on your loop, filter first, then the softener.
• Drain lines run to code with air gaps.
• Charger’s softener manual: connect it to a supply line downstream of the outdoor spigots — past the point where the pipes to the outdoor taps branch off, so those taps are not fed softened water.
• The City of Prescott has adopted the 2024 International Plumbing Code; the county and other towns set their own.
• If a particular job turns out to need a permit, you are told before any work starts.

From the manufacturers

• Charger Iron Breaker (air-draw iron and sulfur filter) spec sheet
• Charger Iron Breaker manual and warranty
• Charger Iron Breaker III brochure (how the air draw works)
• Charger Iron Breaker with ozone brochure
• Charger programming settings for softeners and Iron Breakers
• Charger CWWS1 Hi-Flow softener brochure (2023)
• Charger softener installation manual and warranty
• Charger limited warranty (the version linked from chargerwater.com)
• Clack WS1 control valve specifications (Form 2572)

Independent guidance and listings

• Penn State Extension: iron and manganese in private wells
• University of Nebraska: hydrogen sulfide in water
• University of Nebraska: water softening (sodium, water per regeneration)
• EPA drinking-water advisory for sodium
• Water Quality Association: softeners and septic systems
• City of Prescott code: 2024 International Plumbing Code adopted
• EPA WaterSense: showerhead flow limits
• EPA WaterSense: kitchen faucets (federal limit 2.2 gpm at 60 psi)

These are the manufacturers’ and agencies’ own documents. Links go to their sites and can change without notice.