Water Filtration & Softeners
Half these towns need a softener. Half don't. Which half you're in has nothing to do with your house and everything to do with where your town gets its water.
- Plumbing license
- 1310027098-PL-CMA licensed
- Shop
- 99 Felton StWaltham, MA
- Service call
- Free$89 fee only if you go ahead
- Workmanship
- 5 yearsNo labor charge
- Hours
- 8am–8pmMonday through Friday
Water supply by town
| Town | Supply | Source | Softener? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arlington | MWRA | Quabbin / Wachusett | Not needed |
| Belmont | MWRA | Quabbin / Wachusett | Not needed |
| Brookline | MWRA | Quabbin / Wachusett | Not needed |
| Dedham | Water district wells + MWRA | Dedham–Westwood wells | Likely |
| Dover | Private wells (most homes) | On-site groundwater | Usually |
| Lexington | MWRA | Quabbin / Wachusett | Not needed |
| Lincoln | Town supply | Flint's Pond + Tower Road Well | Test first |
| Natick | Town wells | Local groundwater | Likely |
| Needham | Town wells + MWRA | Charles River Wellfield + MWRA | Test first |
| Newton | MWRA | Quabbin / Wachusett | Not needed |
| Waltham | MWRA | Quabbin / Wachusett | Not needed |
| Watertown | MWRA | Quabbin / Wachusett | Not needed |
| Wayland | Town wells | Local groundwater | Likely |
| Wellesley | Town wells + MWRA | 10 town wells + MWRA | Test first |
| Weston | MWRA | Quabbin / Wachusett | Not needed |
Where does your town get its water?
Towns on the MWRA system draw from the Quabbin and Wachusett reservoirs — surface water, and naturally soft. Towns running their own municipal wells draw groundwater, which picks up hardness, iron and manganese from the ground it sits in. That single difference decides whether a softener is a genuine fix or an expensive appliance solving a problem you don’t have.
What if I’m on a private well?
That’s a different conversation. Private wells have no municipal treatment at all — nobody is disinfecting, adjusting pH, or testing on your behalf. Hardness is usually the least of it. Iron and manganese stain fixtures and laundry, sulfur produces a rotten-egg smell, and bacteria is a real possibility after heavy rain or spring melt.
Private-well houses generally need a treatment train rather than one appliance: a sediment stage, then whatever the test calls for, then UV disinfection last. Getting the order wrong is a common mistake — a softener installed ahead of an iron filter will foul the resin bed and fail early.
What do you install?
- Water testing — hardness, iron, manganese, pH, and bacteria for private wells. This comes first; everything else follows from it.
- Water softeners — ion-exchange softeners sized to household demand and measured hardness, not to a bracket on a box.
- Iron and manganese filtration — for staining, discoloration and the metallic taste common on well water.
- Whole-house carbon filtration — taste, odor and chlorine. The usual ask on MWRA water, where hardness isn’t the issue.
- UV disinfection — for private wells, installed as the final stage so the lamp treats clear water.
- Point-of-use drinking systems — under-sink reverse osmosis where the goal is drinking water rather than whole-house treatment.
Will you tell me if I don’t need it?
Yes. Water treatment is one of the easiest things in this trade to oversell. If you’re in Waltham, Newton, Watertown or another fully MWRA-supplied town, a softener will not improve your water. If someone quoted you one, get a second opinion.
The visit and the water test are free. If the test says you don’t need equipment, that’s the answer you get, and that’s the end of the visit.
5-Year Workmanship Guarantee
We stand behind how we do the work for five years. If something fails because of our installation or repair, we come back and correct it — no labor charge.
Covers Colt's workmanship. Parts carry the manufacturer's warranty. Excludes pre-existing conditions, customer-supplied fixtures, and freeze or misuse damage. Read the full termsCommon questions
Is Boston-area water hard or soft?
It depends entirely on the town. Communities fully supplied by the MWRA — Waltham, Newton, Watertown, Belmont, Arlington, Lexington, Brookline and Weston among them — get surface water from the Quabbin and Wachusett reservoirs, which is soft. Towns running their own wells, including Natick, Wayland and Lincoln, draw groundwater that is typically much harder.
Do I need a water softener in Natick?
Probably. Natick is supplied by its own municipal wells rather than the MWRA, and groundwater in this area is generally hard. Test before buying — hardness varies well to well within a single town.
What's the difference between a filter and a softener?
A softener removes calcium and magnesium through ion exchange — it addresses scale, spotting and soap that won't lather. A filter removes something else entirely — sediment, iron, chlorine, taste and odor. They solve different problems and are often installed together, in a specific order.
How much does whole-house water treatment cost?
It depends on what the test finds and how many stages the water needs. The visit, the test and a written price are free. We'd rather quote your water than quote a package.
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