The Serval package

An ultraviolet (UV) light system that disinfects water as it flows past a lamp: a whole-house unit sized to your home’s flow. It adds nothing to the water and takes nothing out.

• You want a barrier against germs in a private well whose water tests safe today.
• Your water is clear and inside the UV limits — or will be after the filters ahead of it.
• If a test has found coliform or E. coli, the source is found and fixed first. Ohio’s health department says water that is not safe to drink calls for an NSF/ANSI 55 Class A unit, and this is not one.

• Remove chemicals, arsenic, nitrate, iron or hardness. UV only disinfects.
• Protect water after it leaves the unit. UV leaves nothing behind in the water, so the plumbing after it can be recontaminated (University of Nebraska).
• Work on cloudy, hard or iron-stained water — that needs treatment first.

UV system

A whole-house model, sized to your peak flow: one of four sizes. They are rated 6, 11, 15 and 21 gpm at the supplier’s standard dose (30 mJ/cm²), or 4.4, 8.3, 12 and 16 gpm at the stronger 40 mJ/cm² dose that NSF/ANSI 55 Class A uses — both with very clear water (95% UV transmittance).

What is in the box

A polished 304 stainless-steel reactor with a sight port to check the lamp is on, the lamp and its quartz sleeve, and a controller with a lamp-life countdown and sound and light alarms for a failed or worn-out lamp (the supplier). The supplier lists no UV-intensity sensor.

• The supplier’s UV sheets make no NSF/ANSI 55 claim. NSF/ANSI 55 Class A requires a 40 mJ/cm² dose with an alarm or automatic shutoff (Ohio Department of Health).

• By your home’s peak flow and the dose you want (the four models are under What’s in the package). The stronger dose means a bigger model for the same flow.
• The flows above assume very clear water (95% UV transmittance). The supplier allows water down to 75%; the less clear the water, the bigger the model for the same dose, so the size comes from your lab’s UV transmittance reading.

• The four sizes: 6, 11, 15 and 21 gpm at the supplier’s standard dose (30 mJ/cm²), or 4.4, 8.3, 12 and 16 gpm at the stronger 40 mJ/cm² dose, with very clear water (the supplier). Operating pressure 10–150 psi (the supplier).
• 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).

• The supplier’s conditions for use, to check against your lab report:

  The supplier’s conditions for the UV

  In your lab report	Must be
  Hardness	under 7 grains (120 ppm)
  Iron	under 0.3 ppm
  Manganese	under 0.05 ppm
  Tannins	under 0.1 ppm
  Turbidity (cloudiness)	under 1 NTU
  UV transmittance (how clear the water is to UV light)	over 75%

• Water temperature 36–104°F (the supplier).
• Ohio’s health department: treat the water first when iron is 0.3 ppm or more and hardness 6 grains or more.

• Salt: none. Water: none.
• Electricity: 30 to 62 watts, all day, by model (the supplier) — about 260 to 540 kilowatt-hours a year (our arithmetic).

• A reactor about 2½″ wide and 21″–40″ long by model (the -21 is 3½″ wide), and a small controller (6.8″ × 3.6″ × 4″).
• An outlet that is always on.
• No drain.
• The controller comes in a splash-proof case (the supplier).

• None added.

$1,875 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 comes to $1,000 or more, so it waits for CreekWell’s contractor licenses.

Included

• Installation last in line, after any filters and softener
• Testing before Neil leaves
• CreekWell’s two-year workmanship warranty

Not included

• Pretreatment if your water is over the UV limits
• Bacteria test before and after (see Testing)
• Replacement lamps and sleeves
• An always-on outlet if none is close enough — electrical work, arranged separately
• New loop plumbing, if your home has no place to connect it — priced up front, in writing once the licenses are issued, and approved by you first

Running costs

• A new lamp every year, and a sleeve now and then (prices on your estimate).
• Electricity: 30–62 watts all day — about 260–540 kilowatt-hours a year (our arithmetic).
• 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).

Who: “Supplier” is the wholesale company Neil buys these parts through. Its written warranty for this equipment is not linked here; ask Neil for a copy before you buy. The installation itself is covered by CreekWell’s two-year workmanship warranty.

• The supplier’s UV terms are limited warranties. Its sheet says to contact the supplier for the complete warranty document, with its conditions and exclusions; it is not linked here, so ask Neil for a copy before you buy.
• Who pays the labor to take out a defective part and fit the new one, in the first two years and after, is written on your estimate.

• Before: a certified bacteria test (SimpleLab’s Level 1 + Bacteria, $185 at its price, includes total coliform and E. coli) and the water items above.
• After: a bacteria retest after installation shows whether it is working (University of Nebraska: test for the problem after installing). Not included.

• Installed last, after any filters and softener.
• An always-on outlet, not on a switch.
• 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 supplier and the manufacturers

• Supplier’s ultraviolet systems spec sheet

Independent guidance and listings

• Ohio Department of Health: UV disinfection fact sheet
• University of Nebraska: ultraviolet disinfection
• University of Nebraska: choosing water treatment (retest after installing)
• EPA WaterSense: showerhead flow limits
• EPA WaterSense: kitchen faucets (federal limit 2.2 gpm at 60 psi)
• City of Prescott code: 2024 International Plumbing Code adopted

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