CreekWell Plumbing & Water Treatment LLC · 928-228-5770 · creekwellplumbing.com

PFAS Removal · Arizona Homes

PFAS testing & removal in Prescott and Yavapai County

PFAS — the “forever chemicals” — have been detected in Arizona water supplies, including near airfields and military bases. CreekWell’s whole-house PFAS system is built on a Pentair filter system certified by IAPMO R&T to NSF/ANSI 53 for PFAS reduction (per Pentair), and every system is matched to your test results.

Get your flat-rate price Call 928-228-5770 Join the list

The basics

What are PFAS, and why do they matter in Arizona?

PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a family of thousands of man-made chemicals used in firefighting foam, non-stick cookware, water-repellent fabrics, and industrial coatings. They are called “forever chemicals” because many of them break down very slowly and build up in people, animals and the environment over time.

The EPA finalized enforceable Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for six PFAS compounds in 2024, including PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, PFHxS, and HFPO-DA, with the limit for PFOA and PFOS set at 4.0 parts per trillion (ppt). Part of that rule is being reconsidered in 2026; where it stands is in the questions at the bottom of this page. The EPA links PFAS exposure to kidney and testicular cancer, a reduced immune response, developmental effects in children, and elevated cholesterol.

In Arizona, ADEQ reports PFAS detections in public drinking water systems statewide and maps the results. Near Luke Air Force Base in the West Valley, a water utility’s supply wells tested above the EPA’s 2016 PFAS health advisory, and in Tucson high PFAS concentrations have been found in groundwater at the Tucson International Airport Area site. A private well is on nobody’s sampling list but yours.

Sources: EPA, PFAS drinking water regulation · EPA, health risks of PFAS · ADEQ, PFAS and private wells and Luke Air Force Base area data · EPA, Tucson International Airport Area.

Three ways to do it

How PFAS are removed from drinking water

In its 2024 rule the EPA named the Best Available Technologies for PFAS in public water systems: granular activated carbon, anion exchange, and reverse osmosis (with its close relative, nanofiltration). The same three are the options for a home.

Granular activated carbon (GAC)

Carbon holds PFAS on its surface as water passes through — as a granular bed (GAC) or as a carbon block. Effective for long-chain PFAS (PFOA, PFOS) and the most common whole-house option; the EPA notes shorter-chain PFAS do not adsorb as well. At CreekWell this is The Caracal Package: a Pentair carbon-block system certified for five PFAS. Its catalytic carbon tank is there for chlorine; it carries no PFAS certification.

About the system$3,450Whole house · reference price

Ion exchange resin

PFAS-selective anion-exchange resin. EPA says it has a high capacity for many PFAS, but it is typically more expensive than GAC. Not a CreekWell flat rate.

Reverse osmosis at the sink

EPA research puts high-pressure membranes like RO at typically more than 90 percent effective across a wide range of PFAS, short-chain included. The most cost-effective route for drinking and cooking water if you do not need whole-house treatment.

About the RO systems$8295-stage installed · $999 for the 6-stage

One thing to know about our under-sink RO. The EPA’s advice for a home PFAS filter is to look for certification to NSF/ANSI 53 or 58 for PFAS reduction. The Charger HydroSplash systems CreekWell installs make no NSF/ANSI certification claim, for PFAS or anything else, so we do not sell them as a certified PFAS filter. The Caracal’s Pentair system does carry that certification (by IAPMO R&T, per Pentair).

CreekWell designs the system around your water test — some Arizona homes need only an under-sink RO, others need whole-house carbon plus an RO at the kitchen tap. We don’t install a stage you don’t need.

Sources: 40 CFR 141.61(d), the EPA’s list of Best Available Technologies for PFAS · EPA, Reducing PFAS in drinking water with treatment technologies · EPA, Reducing PFAS in your drinking water with a home filter.

The system

The Caracal package — whole-house PFAS reduction

A Pentair PFAS cartridge system (the FloPlus Protect 20BB; the model is confirmed on your written estimate) paired with a catalytic carbon tank on a Clack WS1 control valve. Pentair’s FloPlus Protect 20BB system, a carbon-block filter with its own cartridge, is certified by IAPMO R&T to NSF/ANSI 53 (per Pentair) for up to 99.82% reduction of five PFAS compounds — PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA and PFHpA — with a 40,000-gallon capacity, roughly a 12-month cartridge life.

Start with the PFAS test

PFAS needs its own lab method, so it is not on the $185 panel. SimpleLab’s PFAS Water Test is ordered by you, from the lab; CreekWell reads it with you free.

Order the test kit$334SimpleLab’s price

The Caracal package

Pentair FloPlus Protect 20BB system, a catalytic carbon tank on a Clack WS1 valve (carbon grade on your estimate), all parts, and installation on your existing loop.

Full spec sheet$3,450Reference price · installed, flat

Not bookable yet. This work comes to $1,000 or more, so it waits for CreekWell’s contractor licenses.

Why not yet?

Until its Arizona contractor licenses are issued, CreekWell takes only jobs that come to under $1,000 in all and need no permit and no gas. The price is published so you can plan and compare; it is not an offer, a quote or a bid. What the licenses change

Certified at 5 gallons a minute. Pentair’s certification covers the FloPlus Protect 20BB system with its own cartridge, tested at 5 gpm, 60 psi and 68°F. When more water than that runs through it at once, the flow is outside the conditions it was certified at. Pentair also lists 30–90 psi, 40–100°F, cold water only and no direct sunlight. The spec sheet has the rest.

Installation on your existing loop — the pipe run that takes the house supply through the system and back. If your house needs new loop plumbing, it is priced up front, in writing once the licenses are issued, and approved by you first. Copper or PEX-A.
The two-year workmanship warranty, plus Pentair’s limited warranty (1 year on the housing and system, 30 days on the cartridge) and the supplier’s on the carbon tank — the spec sheet lists each.
A written estimate before any work begins. The flat price covers most installs where the existing plumbing is up to code. If yours needs bringing up to code, you see what is needed, and a written estimate for it, first.

Cartridge figures: Pentair, FloPlus Protect 20BB specification sheet.

Testing

When to test your water for PFAS

If any of the following applies, get a PFAS-specific test:

You live near a current or former military installation, airport, or fire-training facility. Firefighting foam used at these sites is the usual reason a particular address is worth checking.
Your municipal water system has issued a PFAS advisory or notice.
You’re on a private well in an industrial corridor or near landfills, plating shops, or chrome-plating operations.
You’re unusually sensitive — pregnancy, a weakened immune system, or young children at home.

The $185 Premium Water Test does not include PFAS — PFAS testing requires a specialized lab method (EPA 537.1) and is ordered on its own. SimpleLab’s PFAS Water Test is currently $334 for 18 compounds, including PFOA, PFOS and the other four PFAS in the EPA’s 2024 rule, with a standard turnaround of about 10 business days at the lab. You order it directly from the lab — the kit is on our water testing page — and CreekWell then reads the results with you against the EPA’s PFOA and PFOS limits, free.

SimpleLab’s price, parameter list and turnaround were checked on its PFAS Water Test page on 23 September 2026. SimpleLab sets them, not CreekWell.

Where

Service areas

CreekWell covers PFAS testing advice and removal across Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, Dewey-Humboldt, Mayer, Paulden, Sedona, Cottonwood and the rest of Yavapai County, with priority for any home flagged in an Arizona Department of Environmental Quality PFAS notice.

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.

Questions

Questions people ask Neil

Can you come out right now?

Yes, for repairs and emergencies under $1,000.

Call or text 928-228-5770, Monday to Saturday, 7am to 7pm; a priority call gets a same-day visit when Neil is free. Whole-house systems wait for the contractor licenses (what the licenses change).

What is the EPA limit for PFAS in drinking water?

4.0 parts per trillion each for PFOA and PFOS — enforceable limits the EPA finalized in April 2024.

In April 2024 the EPA finalized Maximum Contaminant Levels for six PFAS compounds. The PFOA and PFOS limits remain in force, with public water systems required to comply by April 2029; on May 18, 2026 the EPA proposed letting systems request two more years, to 2031. The limits for PFHxS, PFNA and HFPO-DA (GenX) and the hazard-index mixture are the subject of a rescission the EPA proposed the same day, which was still a proposal and not final as of September 2026. Private well owners are not covered by any of it, and face the same health risks regardless. (Reviewed September 2026 — check the EPA’s PFAS drinking water page for the current status.)

Are PFAS in Prescott water?

PFAS levels in Prescott municipal water have not been widely flagged in public Arizona Department of Environmental Quality reporting, but statewide sampling is incomplete.

Homes near current or former military airfields, airports, fire training facilities, or on private wells in industrial corridors should test individually. Arizona has documented arsenic, chromium-6 and PFAS concerns statewide; PFAS specifically is concentrated near point sources. ADEQ publishes the results it has on an interactive map, linked from its PFAS and private wells page.

How do I get my home tested for PFAS?

Order SimpleLab’s PFAS Water Test directly from the lab — currently $334 for 18 compounds.

PFAS testing requires a specialized lab method (EPA 537.1); it’s not part of a standard mineral panel. The lab mails you the kit, you take the sample and mail it back, and SimpleLab’s standard turnaround is about 10 business days at the lab. CreekWell reads the results with you against the EPA’s PFOA and PFOS limits at no charge. Order the kit here.

Does my regular water filter remove PFAS?

Most basic carbon faucet and pitcher filters do not effectively remove PFAS.

They are not certified to NSF/ANSI 53 PFOA/PFOS reduction or NSF/ANSI 58 reverse osmosis standards. To verify, check the filter packaging for NSF certification specifically naming PFOA and PFOS — which is also the EPA’s advice. Uncertified filters may reduce PFAS partially, but without a certification there is no independent check of how much. That includes the Kitten and the Ocelot, CreekWell’s under-sink RO systems, which carry no NSF/ANSI certification claim. Even a certified filter is not a promise of results under the EPA’s 4 ppt limits: Penn State Extension notes that current certification standards do not show whether a device lowers PFAS that far.

How are PFAS removed from drinking water?

Three ways: granular activated carbon, PFAS-selective ion exchange, and reverse osmosis — the EPA’s Best Available Technologies for PFAS.

GAC is the most common whole-house solution. EPA says anion exchange resin has shown a high capacity for many PFAS, but is typically more expensive than GAC. Reverse osmosis at a kitchen sink is the lowest-cost way to cover drinking and cooking water; EPA research puts high-pressure membranes at typically more than 90 percent effective across a wide range of PFAS.

How much does PFAS removal cost?

Whole-house PFAS treatment is $3,450 flat installed — The Caracal Package.

That is a Pentair PFAS filter system (the FloPlus Protect 20BB; the model is confirmed on your written estimate) plus a catalytic carbon tank, a reference price until CreekWell’s contractor licenses are issued. The Pentair system is certified by IAPMO R&T (per Pentair) to NSF/ANSI 53 for up to 99.82% reduction of five PFAS compounds (PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA and PFHpA), with a 40,000-gallon capacity — roughly a 12-month cartridge life. Point-of-use reverse osmosis is $829 (5-stage) or $999 (6-stage) installed and covers drinking and cooking water, without a PFAS certification claim. PFAS-selective ion-exchange systems are another option; EPA says anion exchange resin has shown a high capacity for many PFAS, but is typically more expensive than GAC. They are not a CreekWell flat rate. CreekWell sizes systems to your water test rather than selling capacity you don’t need.

Who does PFAS testing and removal near me in Yavapai County?

CreekWell reads your PFAS lab results with you free and installs under-sink RO (bookable now if your water is inside its limits and the job needs no permit); whole-house PFAS treatment follows once its contractor licenses are issued — across Yavapai County, by an owner-operator who does the install himself.

That covers Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, Dewey-Humboldt, Sedona and Cottonwood and everywhere between. PFAS needs its own lab method (EPA 537.1) — currently $334 at SimpleLab, see water testing — because PFAS cannot be seen, smelled or tasted, and no home test strip detects it. If results come back positive, treatment is usually whole-house carbon for every tap, an under-sink system for drinking water, or both. Private well owners in Yavapai County are not covered by any utility testing program — if you are on a well, no one is testing your water but you.

The list

Join the list for when the licenses are issued

Whole-house systems and other work of $1,000 or more wait until CreekWell’s contractor licenses are issued. Both license applications are with the Arizona Registrar of Contractors. Once the licenses are issued, Neil calls the list in the order it came in. Joining needs no deposit. Repairs under $1,000 that need no permit can be booked now.

Call 928-228-5770 Join the list