Everything you wanted to ask about your water

Sioux Falls municipal water averages around 20 grains per gallon — well above the 'very hard' threshold. Common signs include soap scum on fixtures, spots on glassware, dry skin after showering, and mineral buildup in appliances. We offer a free in-home water test to confirm your exact hardness and any other issues.

GPG is the standard unit for water hardness in the U.S. One grain equals 17.1 ppm of dissolved calcium and magnesium. Anything above 10 GPG is considered 'very hard.' Sioux Falls typically tests between 18 and 22 GPG.

No — hard water is safe to drink. It's an aesthetic and appliance issue, not a health one. That said, most people notice a huge taste and skin difference once they switch to softened water.

Whole-home softeners typically range from $1,500 to $4,000 installed depending on capacity, features (like Wi-Fi monitoring), and plumbing complexity. During a free water test we recommend the right-sized system for your household so you don't over- or under-buy.

A softener removes hardness minerals (calcium and magnesium). A refiner does that plus reduces chlorine, taste, and odor from every tap in your home. Refiners give you cleaner, better-tasting whole-home water without adding a separate drinking system.

With basic maintenance and proper salt, EcoWater softeners routinely last 15–25 years. Many of our original customers from the 1980s are still running the same tank today.

Modern demand-initiated regeneration (DIR) softeners only regenerate when needed, using as little as 25 gallons per cycle. That's less than a single load of laundry.

Softeners don't remove all contaminants — things like lead, nitrates, PFAS, or chlorine byproducts require additional filtration. A reverse-osmosis (RO) drinking-water system paired with a softener gives you bottled-quality water straight from the tap.

Yes. High-quality RO membranes reject 95%+ of PFAS 'forever chemicals,' along with lead, nitrates, arsenic, and chlorine byproducts. It's the most thorough at-home treatment available.

No. RO systems store filtered water in a small tank under your sink, so you get normal flow at the drinking faucet even though the membrane itself filters slowly.

Most households add salt every 4–8 weeks. Modern EcoWater systems track usage and can even notify you when levels are low. We also offer optional salt delivery.

Use high-purity solar or evaporated salt (pellets or crystals). Avoid rock salt — it contains sediment that shortens resin life. We stock 40-, 50-, and 80-lb bags.

A salt bridge is a hardened crust of salt that forms above the water in your brine tank, preventing regeneration. Break it up gently with a broom handle — 30 seconds and you're done.

Most whole-home softener or refiner installations are completed in 2–4 hours. Under-sink RO systems typically install in about an hour.

Usually no. If your home doesn't already have a softener loop, we can add one during installation. We'll walk your utility area during your free water test and give you a straight answer.

Yes. Our technicians repair and service most major brands of water softeners and treatment systems in the Sioux Falls area.

We serve Sioux Falls and surrounding communities including Brandon, Harrisburg, Tea, Hartford, Dell Rapids, Brookings, and much of southeast South Dakota.

Yes. EcoWater offers some of the strongest warranties in the industry — including limited lifetime coverage on tanks and up to 10 years on electronics, depending on the model.

Absolutely. We treat water for restaurants, salons, laundromats, car washes, boilers, healthcare, agriculture, and multi-family properties across the region.

Yes. We design boiler feedwater systems that prevent scale buildup, extend equipment life, and improve energy efficiency — sized to your load and blowdown rate.

Yes. We install dedicated iron and sulfur filters — often ahead of a softener — to handle the reddish staining and rotten-egg smell common in rural South Dakota wells.

Yes, at least once a year. Well water quality changes with the seasons. We can pull a sample and test hardness, iron, nitrates, pH, and TDS during a free visit.