Frequently asked questions

Hard water is water with a high mineral content. It forms as water percolates through deposits of limestone and chalk, which are largely made up of calcium and magnesium carbonates. Florida sits on limestone, which is why water across the Tampa Bay area tests at the harder end of the scale.

Hard enough that most homes here show it — spotted glassware, scale on fixtures, soap that won't rinse clean. Hardness is measured in grains per gallon, and it varies street to street depending on your utility or, if you are on a well, your specific property. That is exactly why we test at your tap instead of quoting from an average.

Book a free water analysis. We come to your home and test at the tap — hardness, iron, chlorine or chloramines, pH and total dissolved solids — and you get the numbers whether or not you buy anything.

Over 85% of the U.S. has hard water. Because hardness is essentially dissolved rock, the average family of four accumulates more than 15 pounds of rock per year for every grade of hardness in their water. That rock ends up in your water heater, your dishwasher, your washing machine and on every fixture in the house.

The city uses chlorine to treat municipal water and kill bacteria on the way to your home. By the time that water reaches your tap, the chlorine has done its job — there is no reason to keep drinking, cooking with or showering in it.

Chloramines are disinfectants used to treat city water, most commonly formed when ammonia is added to chlorine. They last longer in the distribution system than chlorine alone, which also means they are more stubborn to remove — it takes the right carbon filtration, not just any filter.

Iron in your water supply. It is very common on private wells and it will stain sinks, tubs, toilets and laundry. A standard water softener on its own often will not solve an iron problem — it usually needs dedicated iron filtration, sized to how much iron your test actually shows.

That is almost always hydrogen sulfide — sulfur. It is unpleasant but treatable, and it is one of the most common complaints we hear from well owners across Pasco, Hernando and north Pinellas. The right treatment depends on how much sulfur is present and what else is in the water alongside it, which the water test tells us.

They do different jobs. A water softener improves the water you bathe in and clean with throughout the home, but softeners are not purifiers and will not reduce a wide range of potential contaminants. For drinking, cooking and ice, a separate drinking water system delivers high-quality pure water at the faucet.

Reverse osmosis pushes water through a very fine membrane that separates out dissolved solids, chlorine, chloramines and a wide range of other contaminants. It usually lives under the kitchen sink with its own dedicated faucet, and it is the most common way to get genuinely clean drinking and cooking water at home.

A softener targets hardness — the calcium and magnesium that cause scale and spotting. A whole-house filter targets things like chlorine, taste, odor, sediment or iron. Plenty of homes need both, which is why we size the system to your test results rather than selling one box to everyone.

No. The salt in the brine tank regenerates the softener's resin — it is not added to the water you drink. Most people notice softened water feels different in the shower and rinses cleaner long before they notice anything about taste.

Not on its own. Softening and chlorine removal are two different processes. If chlorine taste and smell are what bother you, that calls for carbon filtration — either as part of a whole-house system or at the drinking water tap.

It depends on how hard your water is and how much your household uses — a bigger family on harder water goes through more. Our systems meter your actual usage and regenerate on demand rather than on a timer, so they use less salt than systems that regenerate on a fixed schedule whether they need to or not. And if you would rather not think about it, we deliver and fill it for you.

Usually, yes. Our water purification systems fit under the sink and need no HOA approval. For softening, we can often use one of our smaller units in a closet or garage. Tell us what your building allows and we will size around it.

Our systems are built around 100% American-made Clack control valves, which meter, monitor and self-adjust to your household's water usage. Parts stay available for decades rather than being discontinued a season later — which matters a great deal when a system needs service eight years from now.

It depends on what your water actually needs. A softener for a two-person condo on city water is a different system from iron and sulfur treatment for a family on a private well. Rather than quote a number that turns out to be wrong, we test your water first, then give you options and real pricing for your home — not one take-it-or-leave-it figure, and never a system larger than you need.

Because we show you. Once the system is installed, we retest your water before we leave, so you can see the before-and-after numbers yourself rather than taking our word for it. If something isn't dialed in, we adjust it right then.

Most residential installations are completed in a single visit. Well systems with several stages of treatment can take longer. We will tell you what to expect for your specific job before we schedule it, so you are not guessing how much of your day it takes.

Yes. We repair most makes and models and carry a large inventory of parts, so many common repairs get handled without a long wait for something to arrive. We will diagnose the problem and explain your options before recommending a way forward.

Not every struggling system needs replacing. We will evaluate what you have and give you a straight assessment of whether repairing or rebuilding makes financial sense, or whether you would genuinely be better off with a new system. Our goal is to recommend what is right for your situation, not simply to sell equipment.

Yes — it is something we specialize in. Every well is different: iron, sulfur, sediment, pH and bacteria all vary from property to property. A lot of companies avoid well water for exactly that reason. We test yours, treat what is actually in it, and service the pump and pressure tank as well.

Yes. Just Water Treatment Inc. is fully licensed and insured for residential and commercial water treatment work throughout our service area, and we are an A+ rated accredited business with the Better Business Bureau.

We are based in Clearwater and serve the Greater Tampa Bay area — including Largo, St. Petersburg, Tampa, Dunedin, Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs, Seminole, Pinellas Park, Lutz, Odessa, Trinity, New Port Richey, Wesley Chapel, Brandon, Riverview and many more. Don't see your town? Give us a call and we will do our best to accommodate.