Well water
A complete well water system, in plumbing order
Quick answer
A complete well water system runs sediment, then air injection iron removal, then softening, then ultraviolet, in that order. Reversing any two of them fouls the equipment downstream: a softener fed raw iron plugs, and an ultraviolet lamp behind untreated iron delivers a fraction of its rated dose while every indicator reads normal.
This is the classic private well train, and the order is the most important thing on this page. It is also one of the most asked questions in the niche, and the reason is that the consequences of getting it wrong are invisible for months.
Sediment comes out first so nothing downstream is blinded by it. Oxidation comes next, converting dissolved iron into particles and catching them. Softening follows, seeing only hardness by then. Ultraviolet goes last because it needs the clearest water in the house: published manufacturer limits put iron below 0.3 mg/L and manganese below 0.05 for it to work at all.
What to skip
Skip the ultraviolet stage if the well has never tested positive for bacteria. It is real equipment with a real annual cost, and installing it on an untested well is treating an assumption. Test first, and if it is positive, deal with why: a failed cap, a cracked casing or surface intrusion is the actual problem.
Skip chemical injection at this tier. It works, but it turns a system into something somebody has to mix solution for and refill, and air injection covers most residential iron and sulfur without it.
What to upgrade first
If the laboratory result showed pH below 6.5, an acid neutralizer goes ahead of everything else and changes the softener sizing, because a calcite bed adds hardness as it works. That is the premium system below.
If iron is high enough that this filter cannot keep up, the answer is a larger oxidizing bed rather than a second softener.
How this compares to the other systems
This system totals $2,443 across 11 items.
Rule of thumb Water treatment trade convention rather than a published standard. Taught everywhere, useful for planning, and not a specification. No standards body publishes it.
| System | Water source | Items | Equipment total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | City water | 6 | $233 |
| Complete | City water | 10 | $1,515 |
| Premium | City water | 12 | $2,925 |
| Starter | Well water | 7 | $700 |
| Complete | Well water | 11 | $2,443 |
| Premium | Well water | 16 | $6,820 |
Equipment only, and prices move constantly. Installed cost is a separate question covered on HouseProjectCalc.
The complete complete list
11 items, grouped by what each one does rather than by what it costs, and listed in the order the water actually reaches them. That order is not cosmetic: sediment has to come out before anything finer sees it, oxidation has to happen before a softener, and ultraviolet goes last because it needs the clearest water in the house.
1. Test. Nothing below is specified without it.
$284Iron form, pH, manganese and hydrogen sulfide together decide which oxidizing media can work. A single iron number is not enough to specify a system.
| Item | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|
| Tap Score Advanced Home Water Test Kit, Well or City The panel that specifies everything below it. | $269.00 | Check price |
| Safe Home DIY Bacteria in Water Test Kit Decides whether the ultraviolet stage is treating a known problem or an assumed one. | $14.99 | Check price |
2. Sediment, flushable
$65An automatic or manual spin down ahead of everything. On a well this is the cheapest part of the system and it protects the most expensive ones.
| Item | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|
| iSpring WSP-50SL Spin Down Sediment Filter with Siphon Flush, 50 Micron The siphon scraper clears the screen more completely than a plain blowdown. | $64.99 | Check price |
3. Iron, manganese and sulfur
$810Air injection oxidizes iron against an air pocket drawn on each backwash, with no chemical feed to maintain. It handles hydrogen sulfide as well, which is why it dominates residential well systems.
| Item | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|
| DuraWater Air Injection Iron Filter, 1.0 Cubic Foot On the Fleck 5600SXT valve, which is the most widely serviced residential control valve in the country. | $810.00 | Check price |
4. Softening
$860After the iron filter, never before it. Compensate the hardness figure for any remaining dissolved iron before sizing: the trade adds roughly 3 to 5 grains per gallon per ppm.
| Item | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|
| DuraWater Fleck 5600SXT 48,000 Grain Water Softener The same serviceable valve family as the iron filter, so one set of parts knowledge covers both. | $805.00 | Check price |
| Diamond Crystal Bright and Soft Water Softener Salt Pellets, 50 lb Higher purity pellets leave less residue in the brine tank. | $34.95 | Check price |
| Morton Water Softener Cleanser Resin cleaner as routine maintenance. On any well carrying iron this is what extends resin life, and almost nobody does it. | $20.38 | Check price |
5. Ultraviolet, last
$300Needs the clearest water in the house. NSF/ANSI 55 Class A delivers 40 mJ/cm2 and is for water not known to be safe; Class B delivers only 16 and is supplemental. The two look almost identical on a listing.
| Item | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|
| iSpring UVF55FS Whole House UV Water Filter, 12 GPM, 1 Inch Ports A flow sensor so the lamp runs only when water moves. Size it on peak flow, because dose falls in proportion as flow rises. | $299.99 | Check price |
6. Polish and monitor
$124A final cartridge stage after oxidation catches the iron particles the filter bed releases, and the gauges tell you when anything upstream has changed.
| Item | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|
| Pentair Pentek 150233 Big Blue Filter Housing, 1 Inch NPT, 20 Inch A one inch big blue housing for the final polish stage. | $68.15 | Check price |
| Pentair Pentek DGD-2501-20 Big Blue Dual Gradient Sediment Filter, 20 Inch 25 micron stepping to 1, which is the right rating once the coarse work is already done. | $42.48 | Check price |
| Reotemp PD25H Home Water Pressure Test Gauge with Max Pointer, 0 to 160 PSI One either side of the polish housing. | $12.99 | Check price |
System total
$2,443
11 items across 6 groups. Prices move constantly and this total is a snapshot rather than a quote. Nothing here includes plumbing labor, a drain line, an electrical outlet where one is needed, or the permit if your jurisdiction wants one. Installation cost estimating is a different question from equipment selection, and it lives on HouseProjectCalc rather than here.
Frequently asked questions
What does a complete well water system cost?
About $2,443 in equipment across 11 items, as listed above. That excludes plumbing labor, a drain line where one is needed, and any permit, all of which vary by region. Prices on the individual items move constantly, so treat the total as a snapshot rather than a quote.
Do I have to buy it all at once?
No, and on a well you should not. Buy the test first and let the result decide the rest, because iron filters are specified by the form of the iron and by pH, and neutralizers by how far the pH sits below range. The filtration and monitoring items are safe to buy early; the treatment equipment is not.
Why does the order of the groups matter?
The groups are listed in the order water reaches them, and each stage protects the next. Sediment comes out first, oxidation happens before any softener so the resin never meets raw iron, and ultraviolet goes last because it needs iron below 0.3 mg/L and manganese below 0.05 to deliver its rated dose.
Is the total an installed price?
No. It is equipment only. Labor, a drain line, an electrical outlet and a permit where your jurisdiction requires one are all extra and vary enormously with how accessible your main line is. Installation cost estimating is a different question from equipment selection and HouseProjectCalc covers it.
What if my water test shows something not on this list?
Then this is not the right list. Bacteria, nitrate, lead, arsenic and PFAS are not do it yourself topics: they are invisible and tasteless, the limits are legal figures, and the equipment has to be matched to a certified laboratory result and verified afterwards. Contact your local health department or a licensed water treatment professional.
Get the complete water treatment shopping list
Every item in the starter, complete and premium systems for both city water and well water, with running totals, in one printable list. It opens with the test kit, because that is genuinely the first purchase. No charge.
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Researched, not professional advice. This page is compiled from published standards, regulatory limits, manufacturer specifications and owner-review consensus, not hands-on testing. Nothing here diagnoses a water problem or says any product makes water safe to drink. Figures described as a rule of thumb are water treatment trade convention rather than published standards, and they are labeled that way wherever they appear. Test your water before you buy equipment: on city water start with the Consumer Confidence Report your utility publishes each year, and on a private well only a certified laboratory test tells you what you have. Bacteria, nitrate, lead, arsenic and PFAS are not do it yourself topics, they are invisible and tasteless, and they need a laboratory and usually a licensed professional rather than a product. Remember that a certification covers a specific claim under a specific standard, so "NSF certified" with no number attached tells you very little.