It helps to know who delivers the water. A patchwork. The City of Gig Harbor runs its own well-fed water system for the downtown core and part of the urban growth area. Washington Water Service serves several areas on the peninsula, Peninsula Light Company provides water to thousands of members between Gig Harbor and the Key Peninsula, and a good number of Artondale, Rosedale and Crescent Valley homes are still on private wells. Gig Harbor is about 25 minutes from Port Orchard down Highway 16, no bridge toll in that direction, which puts it comfortably inside the territory we cover every week.
Why water treatment & filtration systems is a little different in Gig Harbor
Many Gig Harbor homes rely on private wells drilled into glacial sand and gravel, and that groundwater carries iron, manganese and often hydrogen sulfide. A backwashing iron filter sized to the well's flow ends the orange stains and the smell, and a sediment filter ahead of it keeps grit from a shallow well out of the house.
Sewer versus septic is the next question. The city owns the sewer system and the treatment plant on the west side of the harbor, which serves the city limits plus a few developments like Canterwood. Most of the unincorporated peninsula, including large parts of the growth area, is still on septic. When we get a drain call we ask which one you have, because the answer changes the whole approach.
Local conditions that affect water treatment & filtration systems in Gig Harbor
Local conditions shape the work. In Gig Harbor: Pressure reducing valves failing on homes fed by the city system, with pressure well over code
Low-pH well water in parts of Pierce County slowly dissolves copper pipe, and the blue-green stains in Gig Harbor sinks are the giveaway. A neutralizer tank at the entry protects the plumbing, and if the copper is already pinholing we talk about a repipe in PEX at the same time.
In Gig Harbor specifically, one issue comes up more than most: Septic effluent pumps and alarms on waterfront lots where the drainfield sits uphill
Families in Gig Harbor with a tankless water heater see the benefit of filtration quickly: less scale on the heat exchanger, longer intervals between descalings, and a cleaner inlet screen. A scale inhibitor or softener ahead of the unit is often the single best thing you can do for its lifespan on moderately hard well water.
Signs Gig Harbor homeowners call us for water treatment & filtration systems
Worth a call
- Rotten-egg smell from the cold tap, or from the hot tap only
- Sand or grit in aerators, showerheads and the toilet tank
- Water tastes or smells like chlorine, especially in summer
- White scale on fixtures, shower glass and the inside of the kettle
- A tankless water heater that needs descaling every year
How we handle water treatment & filtration systems in Gig Harbor
Expect a Gig Harbor water treatment & filtration systems call to go like this: test the raw water, size to the house, not the catalog, flat price with the options explained, install with bypass, drain and insulation, then start up, flush and set the schedule. If the plan changes mid-job, we stop and re-quote rather than surprise you on the invoice.
Read the full step-by-step for water treatment & filtration systems →
Gig Harbor neighborhoods and areas we serve
Call from Rosedale, Gig Harbor North and Harbor Hill or anywhere else in Gig Harbor, including the places near Tacoma Narrows Bridge and Kopachuck State Park that other outfits treat as a long drive.
Water Treatment & Filtration Systems questions from Gig Harbor
Is a whole-house filter enough for drinking water in Gig Harbor?
For taste, smell and clarity, yes. For dissolved contaminants flagged by a lab report, an under-sink reverse osmosis system at the kitchen is the right addition, and we install both together in Gig Harbor homes.
Do you test the water before recommending a filter in Gig Harbor?
Always. We test iron, manganese, hardness, pH and sulfur on site from the raw water and send lab samples for bacteria, nitrates or arsenic when a Pierce County well calls for it. The system we quote comes from those numbers.
Can you install a filter in my Gig Harbor pump house?
Yes, and we do it often. The system goes after the pressure tank with a bypass and isolation valves, a drain for any backwashing tank, and insulated lines so it survives a freeze.
What does iron filtration cost for a Gig Harbor home?
A whole-house iron system is typically a four-figure project depending on the iron level and the flow the house needs. A sediment or carbon cartridge system is considerably less. You get a flat price after the test, before any work.
My water smells like rotten eggs. What fixes that?
If the smell is in both hot and cold water, it is hydrogen sulfide in the well and needs an oxidizing filter or aeration. If it is only in the hot water, it is bacteria reacting with the water heater's anode rod, and changing the anode usually fixes it with no filter at all. We check which you have before quoting.
Pierce County is a regular part of our week. We cross the Narrows for Gig Harbor jobs often enough that the bridge toll is simply part of doing business, and it never shows up as a line on your invoice.