Phoenix valley
Water softeners and salt-free water treatment in Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix water is almost all river water, from the Salt, the Verde and the Colorado, and it arrives hard. The City's own 2025 report puts hardness at 10 to 17.6 grains per gallon, which is hard to very hard on the scale the USGS uses. That is the scale that ends up on your shower glass, inside your water heater and on every faucet aerator in the house.
- Water provider
- City of Phoenix Water Services
- Hardness
- 10 to 17.6 gpg
172 to 302 ppm. Source: City of Phoenix 2025 Water Quality Report, page 4. - Where it comes from
- Surface water from the Salt and Verde rivers (through Salt River Project canals) and the Colorado River (through the Central Arizona Project), about 97 to 99 percent of the supply in 2025, with about 2 percent from roughly 20 city wells.
- Disinfectant
- Chlorine, across the whole supply
- Total dissolved solids
- 464 to 716 ppm (2025 report)
What that means for a Phoenix home
On the USGS scale, water above 180 mg/L (about 10.5 gpg) is very hard. Phoenix's published range of 10 to 17.6 grains per gallon (172 to 302 ppm) runs from hard to very hard. Hard water leaves calcium behind wherever it dries or heats up: the white crust on faucets and shower glass, and the scale you cannot see inside a water heater, a tankless unit or a dishwasher.
Some Agua Fria River water is mixed with Colorado River water while it is stored in Lake Pleasant, and the city runs five water treatment plants.
Which system fits Phoenix water
Our Soft-Tec® salt-free system is built for city water. It needs hardness under 75 gpg, water pressure between 40 and 100 psi, and essentially no iron, sulfur or manganese. Phoenix's published range tops out at 17.6 gpg, well inside that limit, so most homes on city water here are a fit. It keeps scale from bonding to your plumbing without salt, without wasted water and without electricity, and the minerals stay in your drinking water. How Soft-Tec works.
A salt-based softener is the better answer for well water, for water outside those limits, and for anyone who specifically wants the hardness minerals taken out. We install those too. The Hybrid Water Softener.
City of Phoenix Water Services disinfects with chlorine. Stage two of our whole-home system is a coconut-shell carbon filter, designed to reduce chlorine and chloramine taste and odor.
What you get in Phoenix
- A free in-home water test before we recommend anything.
- Standard installation included, by our own techs, never a subcontractor.
- 10-Year Warranty on the hardware, plus the lifetime servicing plan with annual water testing and maintenance.
- One price, in writing, before any work starts.
Nearby service areas
Sources
- City of Phoenix 2025 Water Quality Report, page 4
- City of Phoenix Water Services
- USGS, Hardness of Water (classification scale)
Figures as published by each utility and read on October 2, 2026. Your home's water can differ from a citywide range.
