Who is responsible for the water
City water: EPA's WaterSense guide notes that U.S. utilities provide treated drinking water that meets federal standards and must report each year in a Consumer Confidence Report (CCR), also called the annual Water Quality Report. You can request yours from your utility or find it through EPA.
Well water: the homeowner is responsible. The Florida Department of Health recommends testing a private well for bacteria and nitrate at least once a year, and more often if the taste, odor or color changes. EPA also recommends periodic testing by a state-certified lab.
Side-by-side comparison
| Factor | City water | Well water |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | Already treated and disinfected by the utility | Raw groundwater, untreated unless you treat it |
| Information you have | Annual Water Quality Report (CCR) | Only what your own tests show |
| Common home goals | Chlorine or chloramine taste and odor, hardness and scale, drinking-water polish | Iron and staining, rotten-egg odor, hardness, sediment, and disinfection if bacteria are found |
| Typical equipment | Whole-home carbon-based filtration, softening, under-sink RO | Configured train: sediment, oxidation or iron/sulfur filter, softener, UV, RO as needed |
| Testing | Screening at home plus your CCR; lab test for specific concerns | Certified lab test before designing a system and at least yearly afterward |
| Maintenance | Filter and media changes, salt for softeners | More components: backwashing, regeneration, UV lamps, filters |
| Ongoing cost factors | Media, cartridges, salt | More stages to maintain, electricity for UV or pumps, testing |
City water: what treatment is for
Utilities disinfect water and keep a residual of chlorine or chloramine in the pipes so it stays disinfected on the way to your tap. CDC explains that both are used for this purpose. That residual is the main reason city water can smell like a pool. A whole-home system rated for chlorine and chloramine handles that at every tap; an under-sink RO unit handles drinking water. Hardness is the other common target in South Florida homes.
Living Water's whole-home purification for city water uses Puronics systems that Living Water describes as removing chlorine and chloramine.
Well water: test first, then design
There is no one-size well system. Clemson Extension puts it simply: no single option treats all concerns, and a treatment train may be needed. Order matters. Sediment and iron are usually handled before softening and UV, because particles and minerals interfere with downstream equipment.
- Rotten-egg smell: often hydrogen sulfide, treated with aeration, oxidation or carbon depending on level.
- Orange or brown stains: iron or iron bacteria.
- Bacteria in a lab test: disinfection, such as UV certified to NSF/ANSI 55 Class A, plus fixing the source.
Living Water configures well water treatment from the well's test.
Which approach fits your home?
- On city water: start with your CCR and a home screening; choose whole-home filtration, softening and/or under-sink RO by what bothers you.
- On a well: get a certified lab test, then build the system around the results and retest yearly.
- Not sure: if you pay a water utility bill, you are almost certainly on city water.
Either way, Jorge's free in-home water test is a good first step. Call, text or WhatsApp (305) 793-5974.
https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2025-01/ws-products-home-water-treatment-guide_v2_508.pdf
https://www.epa.gov/ccr/ccr-information-consumers
https://www.floridahealth.gov/community-environmental-public-health/environmental-public-health/water-quality/drinking-water/private-wells/
https://www.floridahealth.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/well-water-facts-odor-staining.pdf
https://www.epa.gov/privatewells/protect-your-homes-water
https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/residential-drinking-water-well-water-treatment-options-3rd-in-series/
https://www.cdc.gov/drinking-water/about/about-water-disinfection-with-chlorine-and-chloramine.html
Updated 2026-10-17 · Living Waters · Jorge Canela, Water Quality Specialist