Cahaba Water Co.
Questions worth asking before you sign a water treatment contract
Nine of them, most of which can be answered in a sentence by anyone who sized the job properly.
The short version
- Ask what static pressure the system was sized against. If nobody can tell you, nobody measured.
- Ask for the treatment stages in order, not a system name, because the sequence is what determines whether it addresses your complaint.
- Ask what standard, for which named product, any certification claim refers to, and check it in NSF's public listing.
- Sales made in your home are generally subject to a federal cooling-off rule. Confirm how it applies to your contract before relying on it.
Water treatment is sold in a way that puts a lot of pressure on a single evening. Someone is in your kitchen, the test result is in front of you, and the price is frequently structured so that it is better tonight than it will be tomorrow. None of that is unique to this industry and none of it is illegal, but it does mean the questions worth asking are the ones that are hard to answer quickly.
We sell this equipment, and the list below works against us too whenever we have not done our homework.
About the sizing
What static pressure did you measure at the house, and what do you expect it to be after installation? This is the single most useful question on the list. Every treatment stage costs some pressure, and anyone who sized the job properly took a reading before specifying anything. A company that cannot give you the first number did not measure, and a company that will not estimate the second has not considered what their equipment does to your shower.
What is my service line diameter, and what did you size against? The service line sets a ceiling on how much water can enter the house regardless of what is installed inside it. Capacity specified above that ceiling cannot be used.
How many fixtures did you assume run at the same time? Peak simultaneous demand is what the sizing actually turns on, and it is not the same as counting bathrooms. Two people in a six bathroom house and five people in a three bathroom house do not have the same morning.
About the equipment
What are the treatment stages, in order? Not a system name and a price. Which media, in which sequence, because sequence determines whether the system addresses your actual complaint and because several stages interfere with each other if ordered wrongly.
Which standard is this certified to, and for which named product? Certification claims range from exact to decorative. Being certified to a system-level standard is a different statement from being built with certified components, and both sentences can appear on the same page. NSF publishes a searchable listing and checking takes a minute.
What does maintenance cost, and on what schedule? Cartridges, membranes, salt and service all recur. A purchase price compared without the running cost is half a comparison, and the running cost is knowable in advance.
About the installation
Who is performing the work, and under whose license? Water treatment installation is plumbing work, and Alabama regulates who may perform it. The company selling you the equipment and the entity doing the plumbing are not always the same, and you are entitled to know which is which before anyone opens a wall. On our jobs, installation is performed by an Alabama-licensed plumbing contractor.
What is excluded from the installation price? Standard installation describes a standard situation, and houses vary. Whether a drain is within reach of the proposed location, whether there is power nearby, whether the service entry is accessible, and specifically what happens to the price if any of those turn out otherwise. A quote silent on exclusions is not a fixed price, it is an opening one.
About the paperwork
What is the warranty, on what, and who honors it? Equipment warranties and workmanship warranties are separate things with separate durations, and they are frequently held by separate parties. The question worth asking is who you call in year three and what that call costs you.
The cooling-off rule
Sales made at a consumer's home are generally covered by a federal rule administered by the Federal Trade Commission that provides a short window to cancel certain purchases, and it applies to a broad range of in-home sales above a modest dollar threshold. Sellers covered by it are normally required to tell you about it and to provide the cancellation paperwork at the time of sale.
PROFESSIONAL CONFIRMATION REQUIRED. We are not attorneys and this is not legal advice. Whether and how the rule applies to a particular contract depends on the circumstances of the sale, and the exceptions matter. If you want to rely on it, confirm it with the FTC's own published guidance or with an attorney rather than with the salesperson or with us.
If you only ask one
Ask what pressure they measured. It takes ten seconds, the answer is a number or it is not, and almost everything else about how seriously the job was approached follows from whether that number exists.
Our quote shows its work
Service line, fixture count, simultaneous demand and measured pressure, in writing, with the stages named and the exclusions listed. Drinking water systems are published prices with no appointment in front of them.
Start a quoteQuestions we get about this
Why does the pressure question matter so much?
Because every treatment stage costs some pressure and a house that starts low has less to give away. It is also the one input that cannot be guessed from the outside, so whether the number exists tells you whether anyone actually came and measured.
Is a same-day discount a red flag?
Not automatically, but nothing about the cost of equipment changes overnight, so a price that expires at the end of the visit is a fact about the sales process rather than about the product. A company comfortable with its pricing will hold it.
Can I cancel after signing?
Possibly. A federal rule administered by the FTC gives a short cancellation window for many sales made at a consumer's home, and covered sellers are normally required to provide the paperwork. PROFESSIONAL CONFIRMATION REQUIRED: the exceptions matter and we are not attorneys. Check the FTC's published guidance or ask one.
Who is legally allowed to install a water treatment system in Alabama?
Installation is plumbing work and Alabama regulates who may perform it. Ask which licensed entity is doing the work. On our jobs it is an Alabama-licensed plumbing contractor.
Sources
- Federal Trade Commission. The Cooling-Off Rule covering certain sales made at a consumer’s home. Applicability and exceptions are fact-specific.
- Alabama Code 34-37-6(a), governing who may perform plumbing work in the state.
- NSF International. Public certified product listings, searchable by manufacturer and standard.