Well Water Treatment in
Ann Arbor, Detroit and Surrounding Areas
From Culligan of Ann Arbor / Detroit

A softener removes hardness and can carry a limited amount of iron and manganese along with it. Given how often iron runs high on wells around here, a dedicated iron filter is often the right answer instead. A test tells us which situation you're in, and EGLE recommends testing iron, manganese, hardness, alkalinity and pH together before anyone sells you equipment.

No, and this is worth being clear about. EGLE states plainly that water softeners and activated carbon filters are not effective for arsenic. What works is reverse osmosis at the tap or a dedicated arsenic adsorption medium, certified for the job. If a test comes back with arsenic, that changes the recommendation, which is exactly why we test first.

Most well homes in southeast Michigan end up with both, because hardness and iron are separate problems with separate solutions. Whole home filtration paired with softening is the usual answer for a typical well here.

No. A properly functioning water softener will never make your water taste salty. The small amount of sodium added is far too little to create a salty taste.

Through ion exchange. As it removes the calcium and magnesium that make water hard, it replaces those ions one for one with sodium. The amount added is proportional to how hard your water is, and in most cases it isn't a significant contributor to the sodium in your diet.

Yes. Once a softener is installed it begins removing the scale that hard water built up. It takes a long time to clear, but it will clear.

Other than salt or potassium chloride, no. A softener reduces the cleaning supplies and detergents going down your drain, which makes it a net positive environmentally.

Modern softeners recharge based on how much water you use and how hard it is. Most of our customers add salt once or twice a year.

Manganese, and it is common here. USGS found manganese above the 0.05 mg/L limit in 12 of 38 wells sampled in Oakland County, and in about 30 percent of Michigan groundwater results statewide. EGLE recommends keeping drinking water below 0.05 mg/L, and notes that for short-term exposure water at or below 0.3 mg/L showed no adverse effects for infants under six months. It stains fixtures and laundry black and it is removed with the same kinds of filtration used for iron.

It was a good start and it covered three things. Washtenaw and Livingston Counties both require a well to test negative for coliform bacteria, under 10 mg/L nitrate and under 10 ppb arsenic, for a new or replacement well and at the time a home is sold. That test says nothing about iron, manganese, hardness, sulfur or PFAS, and nothing about how your water looks today rather than on the day of the sale. Michigan advises a coliform test every year after that, and nobody sends a reminder.

Hydrogen sulfide gas. It is a nuisance at the levels we usually see, but it deserves more respect than most water problems. EGLE has documented elevated hydrogen sulfide in groundwater in Monroe County, including an incident where a basement measured 132 parts per million. The part worth knowing: at higher concentrations the rotten-egg smell disappears, because it deadens your sense of smell, so odor is not a reliable warning. EGLE recommends taking steps to reduce exposure at 1.3 mg/L in water. Sulfur filtration removes it, and which method works depends on your iron and manganese levels.

Michigan does have some of the strictest PFAS drinking water limits in the country, set in 2020, with PFOA at 8 parts per trillion and PFOS at 16. The catch for well owners is that those limits apply to public water supplies. EGLE states directly that private residential wells are not regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The state samples residential wells near known or suspected PFAS sources, inside designated investigation areas, and covers the cost there. Outside one of those areas, PFAS testing is on the homeowner, through a laboratory certified for EPA Method 537.1.

No, and it is often described that way by mistake. That contamination traced to a manufacturer discharging to the Wixom sewer system, which reached the Huron River through Norton Creek. It became a surface water issue, a fish consumption advisory, and a municipal treatment issue for Ann Arbor, which added carbon filtration and now reports PFAS non-detect. When EGLE sampled 12 residential wells near Norton Creek in 2019, all of them came back non-detect. If you are near a known PFAS site your well is worth testing, but that particular event was not a private well story.

Iron, manganese, sulfur and hardness are aesthetic and nuisance problems at the levels we usually find. Safety questions like bacteria, nitrate and arsenic are separate tests and worth repeating on any private well, whatever the result was the year you moved in. Start with a water test and we'll tell you honestly which category your results fall into.

Most residential systems install in a few hours in a single visit. We deliver the equipment, install it, and set it up, so there's nothing for you to unbox or assemble.

As soon as the well is drilled and tested. Roughing in space and plumbing for treatment during construction costs far less than retrofitting it into a finished home.

Every recommendation we make starts with knowing what is in your water. The test is free, it happens at your house, and it takes about half an hour. You'll get your numbers explained in plain language and an honest answer about whether you need treatment at all.