Start with the symptom. Most water complaints in Yavapai County trace back to one of five causes, and they do not all need the same fix — or any fix at all.
Cause: hardness. Calcium and magnesium. The City of Prescott reports 4.3–7.6 gpg; Prescott Valley reports about 7.2 gpg, and 9.6 on its Mingus West system. The USGS calls anything over 7 hard.
What it costs you: water heaters die early, fixtures crust, soap stops lathering.
Measure it — $185Cause: disinfection byproducts on city water; organics or iron on a well. Taste problems are usually the cheapest to solve.
Usual fix: under-sink reverse osmosis for drinking and cooking, $829 installed.
Reverse osmosisCause: iron and manganese. Common on Yavapai County wells. Orange is iron; black or purple-gray is manganese.
Note: whole-house iron filtration is a reference-priced item we do not currently install.
Well waterCause: sediment. Sand and silt from the well or from work on the line. Cloudy water that clears from the bottom up is usually just air.
Usual fix: clean the aerators and cartridges; find the source before buying equipment.
Cause: could be anything. Arsenic, nitrate, uranium and bacteria have no taste, smell or color. The EPA limit for arsenic is 10 µg/L; some wells in the county are well over it.
Only fix: test. A field meter cannot measure any of these.
Book a lab panelCause: usually not water chemistry. Failing pressure regulator, a partially closed valve, scale in a cartridge, or a leak.
Usual fix: a plumbing diagnosis, not a treatment system.
Plumbing servicesThe City of Prescott and the Town of Prescott Valley publish annual water quality reports stating compliance with applicable requirements. If you are on city water and your only complaint is taste, that is a preference, not a safety problem, and an under-sink system solves it for $829.
Anyone who tells you your municipal water is dangerous, or reads a total dissolved solids meter and calls the number a safety score, is selling something. TDS measures how much is dissolved, not whether it is harmful — mineral water has high TDS and is fine.
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 — a few weeks. Jobs already on the schedule are not affected.
For new work, hold a place in the first round 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, and we are not booking new jobs for a few weeks. 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.
How much is dissolved in the water. Not whether any of it is harmful.
A total dissolved solids reading counts everything dissolved, good and bad together. Healthy mineral water reads high. It is a useful before-and-after check on a reverse osmosis membrane and a useless safety test. Anyone presenting a TDS number as proof your water is dangerous is selling equipment.
Usually hydrogen sulfide, and where it appears tells you where it comes from.
If the smell is only on the hot side, it is normally a reaction in the water heater and often fixable by replacing the anode rod. If it is on both hot and cold, it is coming from the source and needs testing.
Fill a glass and watch it. If it clears from the bottom up in a minute, it is air and it is harmless.
If it stays cloudy, that is suspended sediment and worth chasing down. If it clears from the top down, that is unusual and worth a call.
Work is performed under the Arizona handyman exemption, A.R.S. § 32-1121(A)(14): any single project is limited to less than $1,000 including labor and materials, and excludes work requiring a building permit and all natural gas and propane work. Neil Staiger has 32 years of Arizona plumbing experience and holds current manufacturer certifications from Moen, Kohler, Navien, Rinnai and Charger Water Treatment Products. More about that. Additional Arizona contractor licenses are in progress.
New work is not being booked for a few weeks while we rebrand and add contractor licenses. Jobs already scheduled are not affected.