What we install

Water softeners, reverse osmosis and whole-home filtration

Every system we install is matched to the water at your address: the hardness, the disinfectant, the source. These are the five systems and the problems each one solves.

Water softener with brine tank installed in a basement by King Plumbing

Hard water, scale on fixtures, dry skin and hair, appliances wearing out early

Water softeners

Most of Southern Ontario runs on hard water, and the cities on groundwater run harder still. A softener removes the calcium and magnesium that leave scale on fixtures, film on glassware and residue on skin and hair.

We size it to your household and to the hardness at your address, so it protects the water heater, dishwasher and washing machine from the buildup that shortens their lives. Owned outright, with no rental contract and no monthly fee that never ends.

Under-sink reverse osmosis system installed by King Plumbing

Clean drinking water at the kitchen tap

Reverse osmosis

Reverse osmosis is the drinking-water system: a multi-stage unit under the kitchen sink with its own tap. It takes out what a softener doesn't touch, from chlorine and chloramine taste to dissolved solids, and gives you clean, neutral-tasting water for drinking and cooking.

It pairs naturally with a softener. The softener handles the whole house; reverse osmosis handles the water you actually drink.

Water softener and chlorine filter installed by King Plumbing

Chlorine taste and smell at every tap and shower

Chlorine and chloramine filtration

Municipal water arrives disinfected: with chlorine in most areas, and with chloramine, which is chlorine combined with ammonia, in others. A whole-home chlorine filter takes plain chlorine out of every tap and shower in the house.

Chloraminated areas need a chloramine-rated catalytic carbon filter, because ordinary carbon doesn't fully remove chloramine. The assessment reads which disinfectant your address uses and picks the right one.

Water softener and iron filter installed by King Plumbing

Orange staining, rust-coloured water, metallic taste

Iron filters

Iron and manganese are common in well water. They stain tubs, toilets and laundry, leave a metallic taste, and clog fixtures over time. An iron filter takes them out ahead of the softener, so the softener isn't doing a job it wasn't built for.

Discoloured water in an older home has a second candidate: the home's own aging plumbing. An on-site visit tells the two apart, and we're licensed plumbers either way.

Water softener, iron filter and UV sterilizer installed by King Plumbing

Well water and bacterial concerns

UV sterilization

Well water isn't disinfected by anyone before it reaches your tap. An ultraviolet sterilizer neutralizes bacteria and other microorganisms as the water passes the lamp, with no chemicals added and no change to the taste.

It installs after the filtration stages so the water reaching the lamp is clear, and it's the standard final step for a rural home.

What most people don't know

Three things about your water worth knowing

Softeners vs. reverse osmosis: they do different jobs

Water softeners remove the hardness minerals, calcium and magnesium, that wear on your skin, hair, and appliances. For drinking water, reverse osmosis is the right system.

Municipal water and well water aren't the same problem

Municipal water is already treated, but most areas disinfect with chlorine or chloramine. A reverse-osmosis unit clears it from your drinking water, and a chlorine or carbon filter takes it out of the whole house. Well water is untreated, usually harder, and can carry sulphur or iron, which calls for an iron filter, carbon filter, or UV. Knowing which supply you have changes what you need.

Sometimes the problem is your pipes

Hamilton and the older parts of the GTA still have homes running on aging plumbing. If your home predates 1980 and the pipes haven't been updated, the problem can be the home's own plumbing rather than the municipal supply, and King Plumbing's licensed plumbers can identify which it is on-site.

Your region's water

The water changes by region

Hardness and disinfectant differ from one region to the next, which is why the system does too. Every region we serve has its own page with the facts for each city.

Not sure which one your home needs?

The free assessment reads the water data for your postal code, matches it to what you've noticed at the tap, and tells you. Two minutes, no contact details required.

Start my free assessment
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