Cahaba Water Co.
Carbon, softening and drinking water. The softener only if your test says so.
A carbon filter for the whole house. A softener, if your water needs one. And a drinking-water system under the kitchen sink.
Cahaba Whole Home Complete is a treatment level, not a size. It covers three things: a carbon filter on your main line, a softener where testing and your own goals justify it, and a Cahaba under-sink reverse-osmosis system at the kitchen tap. It is likely our main whole-house system. We test your home's water before we fit the softener, because hardness here varies by source and by address.
Size is the other decision — S, M, L or XL. We set it from measurements taken at your house.
- 01Full bypass
The house keeps running during service.
- 02Carbon, first in line
Chlorine comes out before the water reaches the softener. The softener is packed with resin beads, and chlorine wears them out, so taking it out first makes them last longer.
- 03Softening — drawn broken, because it is fitted on evidence
We fit it where a measured hardness result and your own goals justify it. Where the measurement points the other way, this tank stays out of your build and out of your price.
- 04Brine tank
This holds the salt the softener uses to recharge itself, a cycle called regeneration. It feeds the softener during that cycle; your household water runs through the softener itself.
Complete
decided separately
fitted only if tested
RO is included
This page answers one of them.
Treatment level and system size are two separate questions. Complete answers the first one. How much water your pipes have to carry is the second, and we settle that at your house.
Treatment level
What does this homeowner want or need treated?
Answered here, by Cahaba Whole Home Complete. It covers carbon filtration, a softener if your water needs one, and drinking water. We test your water before we fit the softener.
System size
How much water does this house use at its busiest moment?
Answered separately, at your house. We measure the service line, which is the pipe bringing water in from the street. We count the fixtures that actually move water. We measure your water pressure two ways: standing still, and running. Never square footage, home value or ZIP code.
A finished build carries both answers in its name. Treatment level first, then size.
Cahaba Whole Home Complete ‑ MComplete is not a rung on a ladder you climb. It treats more than Essential does, which makes it broader rather than better. Think of a small house with two bathrooms, where the owner wants everything: filtered water at every tap, softer water, our best drinking-water system, and UV. That house needs a wide treatment level at the smallest size. Now think of a big house with six bathrooms, where the only complaint is the chlorine taste. That house needs our simplest treatment level at the largest size. We answer the two questions separately, every time.
We test before we recommend one.
A water softener isn't automatic in Birmingham. The number at your tap decides it.
Central Alabama Water publishes a system-wide total hardness range of 38 to 224 mg/L, which is about 2.2 to 13.1 grains per gallon. That single range crosses four classification bands, from slightly hard at the bottom to very hard at the top, because hardness here follows the source and the part of the system you sit on. A metro-wide answer cannot survive a spread that wide, so we test your home's water before recommending a softener. If the number is low, we'll tell you. If the hardness level and your goals justify softening, we size the system accordingly.
Two results, two honest answers. Come in near the bottom of the range — under about 3 grains — and softening buys you very little, which is what we'll say, pointing you at Cahaba Whole Home Essential instead. Come in near the top, at 13.1 grains, and you are in the very hard band, where a softener earns its place. Same test, either way.
Softening is built into your Complete system.
- Measured hardness lands in the hard or very hard part of the range
- You see white scale on fixtures, shower doors or in the kettle
- Soap lathers poorly, and detergent leaves a film behind
- You are protecting a tankless heater or high-end fixtures
Your build stops at carbon and drinking water — and so does your price.
- Your hardness tests near the low end, where softening changes little
- Your real concern is taste or smell. That is work for carbon and RO
- You would rather keep added sodium out. Ion exchange adds a small amount
- The measurement still has to happen. Until it does, softening stays out of the quote
That is why the softener is drawn with a broken line above. It belongs to this treatment level, and it goes into the houses where a measurement puts it there.
And what it deliberately leaves open.
Every row below is one of two things. Some are treatment answers, which this level gives. The rest are size answers, and those arrive once we have measured your house.
Which drinking-water system sits under the sink.
Complete includes a Cahaba under-sink RO. Which one you pick is its own choice, at its own published installed price. Gallons per day describes how fast a system produces water, and the stage count describes how it is plumbed; what a system is verified to reduce is set by its own certification. So we describe what each one is, and each product page carries its certification wording exactly as its documentation states it.
Cahaba Pure 50
Lowest installed pricePremium reverse-osmosis drinking water at our lowest installed price. It suits a home that mainly wants better drinking water, with normal household demand and enough incoming pressure.
Cahaba Performance 75
More productionMore production, and boosted RO performance. It suits a home that wants more water, or one where the incoming pressure needs help.
Our premium tank-style RO system. It suits a homeowner who wants the top tank-style RO platform Cahaba offers. This is the drinking-water product, not the whole-home treatment level of a similar name.
Cahaba Slim 800
No storage tankHigh output with no storage tank. It suits a customer who values cabinet space and fast production. It sits alongside the others, chosen for a different reason.
Each system's installed price and its own certification wording are published on its page. Every claim stays on the page of the product that earned it.
Claims stay with the product that earned them.
What each part does, and where it stops.
Reduces chlorine taste and odor at every fixture in the house
Not presented as a certified complete system unless that assembly is documented as one
Reduces summer musty taste only partially when the whole house is running
Reduces hardness — the scale you see, and the way soap and detergent behave
Fitted only where a measured result and your own goals justify it
An aesthetic treatment — it addresses scale and soap performance, rather than contaminants or health
A softener works by ion exchange, which adds sodium. Worth knowing before you decide
A Cahaba under-sink RO, chosen from the published ladder at its published price
We publish each system's certification wording on its own page, exactly as its documentation states it
Every certification claim stays with the product it was issued for
Sized to measured peak demand and pressure
Central Alabama Water is disinfected, monitored and meets every standard. This system is about taste, scale and preference
Broader than Essential. The right level is the one that matches the goals in your house
Questions we get about this.
Does Cahaba Whole Home Complete always include a water softener?
What size is Cahaba Whole Home Complete?
Which drinking-water system comes with Cahaba Whole Home Complete?
Is Cahaba Whole Home Complete better than Cahaba Whole Home Essential?
What does Cahaba Whole Home Complete cost?
Right level. Now the size.
Size is settled at your house, with a tape measure and a pressure gauge. We look at the pipe coming in from the street, the fixtures, and the measured pressure. The treatment level you chose leaves it open.