CreekWell Plumbing & Water Treatment LLC · 928-228-5770 · creekwellplumbing.com
Hard water, chlorine taste and private-well chemistry are three different problems with three different fixes. Neil measures first, then recommends, and tells you when the answer is that you do not need anything.
Installs from Neil’s years in the trade, photographed on the job. No stock images.
Two houses on the same street can test differently if one is on a well. A softener sized for 5 grains per gallon is the wrong machine at 10, and reverse osmosis does nothing for the scale in your water heater. The only way to pick correctly is to know the numbers.
Every estimate includes a free water check: hardness, chlorine and total dissolved solids, read in front of you. That is a screen, not a safety test. When the question is arsenic, bacteria, nitrate or metals, it takes the certified laboratory panel — $185 for 53 parameters.
Here is how far apart the numbers run in this county:
The city’s own report calls its water moderately hard — 75 to 130 ppm, or 4.3 to 7.6 grains per gallon — and disinfects it with chlorine. The top of that range crosses the 7 gpg the U.S. Geological Survey calls hard.
A private well Neil tested on a Prescott hillside in July 2026 ran 20 gpg with 451 ppm TDS — well over twice the top of the city’s range. ADEQ’s study of 58 wells across the Prescott area averaged about 12 gpg, and 9 of the 58 were very hard.
The highest arsenic the Arizona Department of Health Services recorded in a Cornville private well — 95 times the EPA limit of 10 µg/L. In a peer-reviewed statewide analysis, 43.6% of Yavapai County samples were over that limit.
Sources: City of Prescott water quality report; ADEQ, Ambient Groundwater Quality of the Prescott Active Management Area (58 wells, average hardness 202 mg/L); Arizona Department of Health Services, Cornville arsenic health consultation; Jones MC 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 — 33,099 samples statewide, 5,705 of them in Yavapai County. The hillside well is Neil’s own July 2026 reading.
Neil does each step himself, from the test to the install to the service after.
Order the $185 Premium Water Test — SimpleLab’s third-party certified panel — straight from the lab, or start with the free water check (hardness, chlorine and dissolved minerals) at your estimate. The results tell Neil exactly what to treat: no guesswork.
Neil explains what is in your water and recommends the right treatment for your budget and needs — including when the answer is that you need nothing.
Neil designs a system around your home’s size, your water use and your particular contaminant profile.
Neil installs it himself and tests it before handing it over. No subcontractor.
Maintenance, filter changes and system check-ups to keep it working as it should, backed by a two-year workmanship warranty plus the maker’s or the supplier’s warranty on the parts (each spec sheet lists them by part).
Every home is different, and well water varies house to house. Neil sizes a treatment system to your actual water numbers — either a certified lab report you order yourself, or the free water check (hardness, chlorine and dissolved minerals) Neil runs at your estimate visit. These are the four kinds of treatment people ask Neil about.
Systems that treat water at the main line, so every tap in the house gets it. They take out sediment, chlorine and other contaminants — catalytic carbon for city water’s chlorine, taste and odor; sediment and iron filters for well water.
Whole-house filtersSoftening takes out the hardness minerals that crust fixtures and appliances and cost a gas water heater efficiency (the effect on electric tanks is negligible, in tests reviewed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory). Soft water rinses cleaner off skin and hair and needs less soap and detergent. A salt-free conditioner is meant to keep scale from forming, with no brine tank or drain line; it does not soften, and it carries no scale-reduction certification.
Well water around Prescott can carry arsenic far over the EPA limit, and PFAS — the “forever chemicals” — are an emerging concern near airports, military sites and fire-training grounds. Each needs its own proven removal media, sized from a lab test. For drinking water alone, reverse osmosis at the kitchen tap reduces both.
Well water help for Prescott, Chino Valley, Dewey-Humboldt and Skull Valley homeowners: free help reading SimpleLab’s certified lab panel for bacteria, arsenic, nitrates, hardness and metals (you order the kit); service on the pump and pressure tank when they sit above ground; and, once CreekWell’s contractor licenses are issued, sediment and iron filtration, UV disinfection and treatment systems sized to your well’s own chemistry. Neil does not drill wells or work down inside them.
Well waterPublished flat prices — installed, parts and labor included, and confirmed in writing after a free on-site check.
| System | Solves | Best for | Installed | Bookable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water softener — The Bobcat | Hardness, scale, spots | Hard well water, or city water behind a carbon filter: the supplier says to protect softener resin from chlorine | $1,799 | Reference price — $1,000 or more |
| Softener plus carbon — The Tiger, three sizes | Hardness plus chlorine taste and smell, in one tank | 1–2 people on city water (Tiger 32) up to larger households or harder wells (Tiger 64K) | $2,235–$3,399 | Reference price — $1,000 or more |
| Salt-free conditioner — The Snow Leopard | Scale control, no salt or drain | No-drain locations, or a salt-free preference | $2,750 | Reference price — $1,000 or more |
| Whole-house carbon filter — The Lynx | Chlorine, taste and odor at every tap | City water taste complaints | $1,885 | Reference price — $1,000 or more |
| Under-sink reverse osmosis — The Kitten or The Ocelot | Drinking water at one tap: dissolved solids and many dissolved contaminants (not certified) | Cleaner drinking and cooking water | from $829 | Yes |
| Arsenic removal — The Jaguar | Arsenic over the EPA limit, at every tap | Private wells with a lab result over 10 µg/L | $4,750 | Reference price — $1,000 or more |
| PFAS removal — The Caracal | PFAS, the “forever chemicals” | Homes where a PFAS test found them | $3,450 | Reference price — $1,000 or more |
| Complete well system — The Cougar | Sediment, iron, hardness; UV barrier on water that tests safe | Private wells — sized from a lab test | $6,475 | Reference price — $1,000 or more |
Related: softener installation · whole-house filtration · reverse osmosis · well water · arsenic removal · Is Prescott water hard? · all pricing
Same flat rate across the whole service area. These prices apply 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.
You order it from SimpleLab, at its price: 53 parameters, run by a certified lab from a sample you take at your own tap. Then Neil gives you a plain-English walk-through of what each number means, free. Private wells and city water.
What the panel covers$185SimpleLab’s priceDrinking and cooking water at one tap. Reduces dissolved solids, chlorine taste and much of what a filter pitcher cannot, arsenic V among them (not certified; see the spec sheets). Bookable now if your water is inside its limits (on a well, iron up to 0.3 ppm, manganese up to 0.1 ppm, arsenic V up to 300 ppb) and the job needs no permit. A faucet hole is included; drilling granite, quartz or stainless is $50 more, and an Ocelot that needs it waits for the licenses.
How reverse osmosis worksfrom $829Installed · 6-stage $999These are real prices for real systems — the Aqua Cat Series packages and the Navien WEC600 — published so you can plan and compare. Each one links to the page that explains it, and every package has a full spec sheet: what is in it, what it will not fix, what it needs, upkeep and warranty by part.
Not bookable yet. This work comes to $1,000 or more, so it waits for CreekWell’s contractor licenses.
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
Whole-house water softener. Ion exchange, the standard answer to scale, sized to your home from 24,000 to 64,000 grain. For a well, or city water behind a carbon filter: the supplier says to protect softener resin from chlorine.
Softener details$1,799Reference priceA softener with a carbon layer in the same tank, for hardness plus chlorine taste and smell, in three sizes: Tiger 32 ($2,235) for 1–2 people on city water, Tiger 48 ($2,590) for 3–4 people, or 1–2 on harder water up to about 20 grains, and Tiger 64K for larger households or harder wells.
Which Tiger?$2,235–$3,399Reference pricesSalt-free scale control with scale media (Filtersorb SP3 in the supplier’s system). No salt, no drain line, no electricity; it does not soften — the hardness stays in. Compact ($2,225) and Dual-Tank ($3,550) builds too.
Salt-free details$2,750Reference priceWhole-house catalytic carbon for chlorine, chloramine, taste and odor at every tap.
Filter details$1,885Reference priceWhole-house arsenic removal for wells over the EPA limit: an AdEdge Medallion (POE-7-1354 or POE-10-1465, by your home’s flow) with Bayoxide E33 adsorptive media, suited to your water by a lab test.
Arsenic details$4,750Reference pricePFAS reduction: a Pentair PFAS system, the FloPlus Protect 20BB (the model is confirmed on your estimate), certified by IAPMO R&T to NSF/ANSI 53, per Pentair, for five PFAS at up to 5 gallons a minute (per Pentair), with a catalytic carbon tank.
PFAS details$3,450Reference priceThe complete well system: sediment filter, iron filter, softener and UV disinfection as one designed package.
Well water details$6,475Reference priceWhole-home reverse osmosis: an AdvanTech Aqua AES-2000 making about 2,000 gallons a day, a storage tank sized to your doorways, a delivery pump and the first year’s maintenance included. A softener ahead of it is usually needed and is priced separately.
Whole-home RO details$14,999.99Reference priceSalt-free tankless electric water treatment. It reduces hardness but, Navien says, does not necessarily soften. Units sold after 1 February 2026 take hardness up to 600 ppm (35 grains); your water is checked against Navien’s limits before any number is put in writing.
Navien detailsPricedAfter the water check, once the licenses are issuedIf one of these is what your house needs, Neil tells you so, and when it can be done.
The packages above, all but the Navien WEC600, are the Aqua Cat Series — CreekWell’s own line of water-treatment packages, named in the Aqua Cat days and kept. Neil chooses the parts for each one, sizes it to your water and installs it; CreekWell does not manufacture the parts, and each package’s spec sheet lists the parts, names the makers where known, and links the supplier’s and makers’ documents. The whole-house ones are sold once CreekWell’s contractor licenses are issued. If you already own one, that is the name on your paperwork.
Prices for the series are the reference prices above and on the pricing page. Of the series, only the Kitten and the Ocelot can be booked now, if your water is inside their limits (on a well, iron up to 0.3 ppm, manganese up to 0.1 ppm and arsenic V up to 300 ppb) and the job needs no permit — the Ocelot unless a granite, quartz or stainless counter needs a new faucet hole, as the drilling takes it over $1,000. The $185 water test is ordered from the lab directly.
Bought a softener at Costco, Home Depot or Amazon, or a reverse osmosis system online? Neil installs customer-supplied water treatment equipment at a flat rate.
Hauling away the old unit is not included in the $999: the old unit stays with you. A run longer than 10 feet is priced up front, in writing once the licenses are issued.
When each can be booked. Arizona’s $1,000 limit is on the whole job, and CreekWell counts the equipment you bought toward it. So a whole-house system you bought waits until CreekWell’s contractor licenses are issued, and an under-sink RO you bought can be booked now when what you paid for it plus the $499 comes to under $1,000 — a system that cost $500 or less — and the job needs no permit. Any new plumbing runs are copper or PEX-A, and code-update work is shown to you and priced in writing first, once the licenses are issued.
If you would rather have one number that covers the equipment, the install and the warranty, the packages above bundle all three. For example (reference prices: these cost more than $1,000, so they wait until CreekWell’s contractor licenses are issued):
Either way the install is the same — the same plumber, the same Yavapai County work. The only choice is whether you source the equipment yourself or have Neil supply it.
Our own treatment line — the packages above — is built on industry-standard Clack control valves: no proprietary lock-in, and systems built around the hard water, arsenic and iron this county actually has.
Softeners on Clack WS1 control valves, sized to your hardness and household — compare the packages.
Backwashing catalytic carbon systems for chlorine and chloramine taste and odor on city water — the Lynx spec sheet has the limits.
Air-injection and catalytic systems for well water with iron staining or a rotten-egg sulfur smell.
Salt-free scale media (the supplier’s systems use Filtersorb SP3, a crystal-forming media similar in idea to TAC), meant to give less scale without salt, a drain or power. It does not soften.
The 5-stage and 6-stage Charger HydroSplash drinking-water systems, for the kitchen or any single tap — see reverse osmosis.
Specialized arsenic-selective media with Clack control, for wells over EPA’s 10 ppb limit; for drinking water only, the Kitten under-sink RO may be enough.
Our own line is our first choice because it is the equipment Neil buys, services and can get parts for. Once CreekWell’s contractor licenses are issued, Neil will also install Pentair, Pelican, Kinetico, Culligan, Rainsoft, WaterBoss and most commodity-grade systems. Have equipment already? Service on it, under $1,000, can be booked now: we will service it, or replace only what is worn.
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).
Scale, spots, stains, soap that will not lather and a metallic or chlorine taste are the usual signs — but only a test tells you what is actually in the water.
Common signs include cloudy or discolored water, scale on faucets and shower heads, soap that won’t lather, stained sinks or laundry, dry skin and hair after showering, and a metallic or chlorine taste. The only way to know exactly what is in your water is a certified lab test. The $185 Premium Water Test — SimpleLab’s Drinking Water Test: Level 1 + Bacteria, ordered directly from the lab — covers hardness plus 53 parameters including arsenic, lead, nitrate and bacteria.
They solve different problems, and plenty of Prescott homes want both.
A softener treats the whole house: it stops scale on fixtures, in pipes and inside the water heater. Reverse osmosis treats one tap: it makes drinking and cooking water taste right and reduces dissolved solids, including arsenic (best on arsenic V). If the complaint is spots, crust and short appliance life, that is hardness. If the complaint is taste or what is dissolved in the water, that is reverse osmosis.
Softening removes hardness; filtration removes things like sediment, chlorine, iron, arsenic or PFAS. Many Prescott homes want both.
Water softening removes the hardness minerals — calcium and magnesium — that cause scale, soap scum and appliance damage. Filtration removes sediment, chlorine and taste-and-odor compounds and, depending on the media, contaminants such as iron, arsenic or PFAS. The Tiger packages do both in one tank; a well may need separate stages. Either way, the system is sized to the lab results from your water test.
The city supply reports it under the EPA limit; private wells across Yavapai County are often well over it.
Arsenic occurs naturally across Yavapai County. The City of Prescott reports its supply within the EPA limit of 10 ppb. Private wells are another matter: a peer-reviewed analysis of 33,099 Arizona water samples (Jones et al., 2020) found 43.6% of Yavapai County samples above the EPA’s 10 ppb limit — the second-highest rate of any Arizona county. All six Cornville private-well samples reviewed by the Arizona Department of Health Services were over the limit, the highest at 952 µg/L, and six of seven Paulden samples over it, one at 3,400 µg/L. Arsenic is colorless, odorless and tasteless, so a lab test is the only way to know. Whole-house arsenic removal aims to bring it under the EPA limit of 10 ppb (AdEdge’s stated goal for its Medallion), and a lab test of the treated water shows your result — more on arsenic removal.
Published installed flat rates start at $829 for under-sink reverse osmosis and $1,799 for a whole-house softener.
Water softeners from $1,799; the Tiger 64K softener plus carbon $3,399; the salt-free conditioner $2,750; the whole-house carbon filter $1,885; under-sink reverse osmosis from $829; the complete well system $6,475; whole-home reverse osmosis $14,999.99. Every price includes equipment, parts and labor and is confirmed in writing before work begins — the flat rate never quietly grows. The water test can be ordered now, and the under-sink systems can be booked now if your water is inside their limits (on a well, iron up to 0.3 ppm, manganese up to 0.1 ppm and arsenic V up to 300 ppb) and the job needs no permit; the whole-house systems are reference prices until the contractor licenses are issued.
It depends on your water source — city water and a private well need different answers.
On City of Prescott water — moderately hard, by the city’s own description, and chlorine-disinfected — a combined softener-plus-carbon system, a Tiger, takes out hardness and chlorine taste in one tank. The size follows the household: the Tiger 32 ($2,235) for 1–2 people, the Tiger 48 ($2,590) for 3–4 people, or 1–2 on harder water up to about 20 grains, and the Tiger 64K ($3,399) for larger households or harder water — reference prices until the contractor licenses are issued; which Tiger has the details. On a private well, the well decides: hardness, iron, sediment, arsenic and bacteria vary lot to lot, so Neil sizes the system from a certified $185 lab test instead of guessing. A Prescott hillside well Neil tested ran 20 grains per gallon with 451 ppm TDS — a very different fix from a city home.
Some.
The parts the makers rate lose a few psi or less at everyday flows; the supplier publishes no figure for its tanks.
Clack’s valve, on the softeners and the Lynx: about 0.5 psi at 5 gallons a minute and 2 at 10 (our arithmetic from Clack’s flow rating, Cv 7.0), and 15 psi at its full 27 gallons a minute. Pentair’s PFAS cartridge, on the Caracal: 3 psi at 5 gallons a minute, rising to 7 at 10. Undersized or clogged systems are a different story. Neil measures your home’s flow rate and pressure before specifying a system and size it to your home’s flow; where a package’s rating is lower (the Caracal’s PFAS certification is at 5 gallons a minute, about two showers), its spec sheet says so.
It depends on the system: RO cartridges every 6 to 12 months and the membrane about every 3 years; softener resin and whole-house carbon have no fixed life.
Charger’s spec sheet puts the HydroSplash RO’s cartridges at 6 to 12 months (its manual says once a year), and its manual puts the membrane at about 3 years (3 to 5 years on its parts list). Softener resin and the carbon in a backwashing whole-house tank have no fixed published life: chlorine wears them down, and they are replaced when a test shows they have stopped working. Each package’s spec sheet lists its upkeep, how often and who does it, and your written estimate sets the schedule for your install.
No. A typical carbon pitcher improves taste and removes some chlorine; it does not remove arsenic, nitrate or dissolved solids.
Reverse osmosis pushes water through a membrane that rejects the great majority of dissolved contaminants. A carbon pitcher catches a much narrower set on the carbon; a few pitchers are certified for arsenic, and the certification listing says which. For a home on a well with measurable arsenic, the difference is not a matter of degree.
The free water check takes a few minutes at the house.
The laboratory panel takes about a week to 10 days, door to door.
SimpleLab mails you the kit, you take the sample and mail it back, and the lab runs the 53-parameter panel — about 5 business days once it has your sample, plus the mail both ways. Then Neil sits down with you and goes through the report. The number that matters is rarely the one people expect.
CreekWell Plumbing & Water Treatment — a Prescott-based, owner-operated business.
The person who answers the phone is the plumber with 32 years of Arizona experience who reads your water numbers, sizes the system and installs it. Prices are published flat rates — softeners from $1,799 installed, a reference price until the contractor licenses are issued — with a two-year workmanship warranty plus the maker’s or the supplier’s warranty on the parts. National franchises serve the area too. What CreekWell offers is one accountable person, written pricing and the owner on site.
Monday to Saturday, 7am to 7pm. Neil answers his own phone and calls requests back in the order they came in.
