Week one: know your water source
- City water or well? Your water bill tells you. No water bill usually means a private well.
- City water: find your utility's annual Consumer Confidence Report. The EPA requires community water systems to deliver it each year by July 1, and the CDC notes you can look it up online if you did not receive it. See how to read it.
- Private well: the CDC recommends testing well water at least once a year. The Florida Department of Health has guidance for private well owners on testing and certified labs.
- Irrigation well: many South Florida yards have one. It is usually not drinking water, but it can stain walls, driveways and pool decks.
Week one: find the controls
- Locate the main water shutoff and make sure it turns.
- Find the shutoff valves under each sink and behind toilets.
- Find the water heater and note its age.
- If there is treatment equipment, find its bypass valve.
Inherited equipment: what to check
Many homes come with a softener, a whole-home filter or an under-sink system. Do not assume it works or was maintained.
- Look for a model number and search for the manual.
- Check the last filter-change date, if anyone wrote it down.
- On a softener, check the salt level and whether the control valve's clock and settings are right.
- Look for drips around tanks, housings and the drain line.
- Replace under-sink cartridges unless you know when they were last changed.
See when to replace a whole-home system.
Weeks two to four: test, then decide
The CDC's advice on choosing a filter is to test your water first and choose a product that addresses what you actually want to change. Taste and smell are not reliable guides on their own. A home test covers basics such as hardness, chlorine or chloramine and dissolved solids; specific concerns such as lead call for a certified lab. See home screening vs lab analysis.
Common choices for new homeowners
| Goal | Typical option |
|---|---|
| Less chlorine or chloramine taste and odor at every tap | Whole-home filter certified for that claim |
| Fewer spots and less scale | Water softener |
| Dedicated drinking water | Under-sink reverse osmosis |
| Well water problems | System configured from the well's test |
Living Water offers each of these, built on Puronics equipment.
Keep a simple water file
Store the water report, test results, equipment manuals and filter dates in one folder. It makes service easier, and it helps when you sell the home someday.
https://www.epa.gov/ccr/ccr-information-consumers
https://www.cdc.gov/drinking-water/about/how-to-read-drinking-water-quality-reports.html
https://www.cdc.gov/drinking-water/prevention/about-choosing-home-water-filters.html
https://www.floridahealth.gov/community-environmental-public-health/environmental-public-health/water-quality/drinking-water/private-wells/
https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2025-01/ws-products-home-water-treatment-guide_v2_508.pdf
Updated 2026-10-17 · Living Waters · Jorge Canela, Water Quality Specialist