Cahaba Water Co.
Tell us what you want changed, and how much water your house moves.
Those are two different questions, and we answer them separately. Steps one and two are this form — "not sure" is a complete answer to most of it. Steps three and four are ours.
often within the hour
if softening is in play
your kitchen
anything is scheduled
Four steps. Two are yours, two are ours.
Nothing is decided from a form. The form tells us what to look for; the assessment tells us what is actually there.
What do you want to change?
This is the treatment level decision, and it is the only thing that sets it. Tick as many as apply, or tick nothing and say so — a homeowner who only wants the chlorine taste gone is giving us a complete answer, not a partial one. We never read your treatment level off the size of your house.
What does your home require?
This is the system size decision — a hydraulic answer to a hydraulic question. It asks what the house has to pass at peak demand, and where the equipment can physically go. None of it changes what gets treated, and none of it is read off square footage, home value or ZIP code.
The professional assessment.
Cahaba confirms water conditions, peak flow, pressure and installation access before the final system is locked. Static and dynamic pressure are measured at the house. Where a softener is in question, hardness is tested rather than assumed — a softener is not automatically required in every Birmingham home. If the readings contradict what the form implied, the readings win.
The final build.
You receive a treatment level and a size, named together, so both decisions stay visible in the thing you bought:
Cahaba Whole Home Complete ‑ M Treatment level, then size. Whole-home systems are quoted after sizing — the price follows the build and the build follows the measurements.
If the honest answer is a drinking-water system on its own, that is a published installed price and no sizing visit is needed: Cahaba Pure 50 at $995 installed, Cahaba Performance 75 at $1,095, Cahaba Signature 75 at $1,295, or the tankless Cahaba Slim 800 at $1,295.
The two decisions, side by side.
Treatment level — what does this homeowner want or need treated?
- Cahaba Whole Home Essential — whole-home carbon filtration.
- Cahaba Whole Home Complete — whole-home carbon filtration, softening where testing and your goals justify it, and a Cahaba under-sink RO.
- Cahaba Whole Home Signature — premium whole-home treatment architecture customized to the home. Maximum design sophistication and options, not every component in every house.
Nothing on this track looks at your bathroom count.
System size — how much water must this home handle at peak demand?
- S — Standard Flow
- M — Enhanced Flow
- L — High Flow
- XL — Estate Flow
Nothing on this track looks at which treatment level you picked. The size is set at the assessment, from the service line, the fixtures and the measured pressure.
A big house with six bathrooms, where the only complaint is the chlorine taste. A lot of water at once, one thing to treat.
Cahaba Whole Home Essential ‑ XLA small house with two bathrooms, where the owner wants everything: filtered water at every tap, softer water, our best drinking-water system, and UV. A lot to treat, not much water at once.
Cahaba Whole Home Signature ‑ SThose two builds are opposite corners of the same set of choices, and neither one is the better system. The right build is the one your water and your house actually ask for. How the two decisions work.
The form is the first two steps.
- 01We look up your utility and what your water actually contains
- 02We work out your design peak flow from your fixtures, not your floor plan
- 03If softening is in play, we mail a free hardness test
- 04You get a firm written quote — before anything is scheduled
If the answer is "you need less than you thought," that's what we'll tell you. Plenty of people who ask about whole-home systems end up with the $995 drinking-water system and are better off for it.
Both decisions, in one visit
We measure the house, test what needs testing, and give you the treatment level and the size separately — with the readings that produced each one.