“The lab sheet had eleven lines I could not read. She circled three, crossed off the rest, and we put in one filter, not a basement of tanks.”
Antoinette K.Well owner, Pembroke
Well-water treatment, Concord NH
Read your well report before you buy a filter.
Send us the lab sheet, or we collect the sample. We go through each line, say what it would take to change it, and put the answer in writing before any work starts.
- Licensed and insured, number in the footer
- A written proposal before work starts
- An independent lab runs the analysis
Well report decoder
Your lab sheet, one line at a time
Find your line in the left column. The middle says what it means in the house; the right says what we would look at installing. Your numbers set the system, not the other way round.
| What we install | What it means | |
|---|---|---|
| Iron: above 0.3 mg/L | What we installA filter that oxidizes dissolved iron, or an air-injection tank, sized to your flow. A sediment filter when the lab shows iron as particles. | What it meansOrange or brown stains on fixtures and laundry, and a metal taste. The federal figure of 0.3 is a stain-and-taste guideline. |
| Manganese: above 0.05 mg/L | What we installUsually the same filter as for iron, sized for both numbers added up. | What it meansBlack or brown stains and flecks. It travels with iron, so read the two numbers together. |
| Hardness: 10 grains per gallon (171 mg/L) | What we installA salt-based softener sized to the grains your household uses in a day, or a talk about whether you want one. | What it meansHard on the common scale, which starts at 7 grains. Scale in the kettle and water heater, spots on glass, stiff laundry. |
| Hydrogen sulfide: detected | What we installAir injection or an oxidizing filter, picked by how much the lab finds and whether iron is in the same water. | What it meansThe rotten-egg smell, often strongest on the hot side, where the water heater feeds it. |
| pH: 5.9, below 6.5 | What we installA neutralizing tank that raises the pH, with the number checked again after install. | What it meansAcidic water. It can leave blue-green stains and wear on copper pipe and fittings over time. |
| Arsenic or uranium: flagged | What we installA system matched to the form the lab reports, often at one tap, then a retest. We may ask the lab for a second analysis first. | What it meansThe lab is comparing the result with a health-based limit, not a stain limit. Ask the lab or the state's drinking-water program what to drink and cook with until there is a plan. |
What shows up in Concord-area wells
Four things a lab sheet usually flags
Wells here draw from granite and gravel, so the minerals vary from one street to the next. These are the lines we read most often.
Iron and manganese
Rust or black stains, and a metal taste even when the water runs clear.
Iron and sulfurHardness and low pH
Scale on the kettle, spots on glass, and water acidic enough to wear copper.
Hard waterArsenic, uranium, radon
Lines the lab compares with a health-based limit, so the first step is a plan, not a purchase.
Lab flags
Test first
We test, read, then size the system
Treatment bought before the test is a guess. We send your sample to an independent water lab, so the numbers are not ours, and we do not sell the system the lab report does not call for.
On the visit we look at the pressure tank, the pipe, the drain and the floor space. Then you get one written proposal: what we would install, why, and what it will not change.
The lab's name and report stay with you
A second option on request, with the trade-off
A retest after the system has run for a few weeks
Start to finish
Five steps, in this order
- 01
Step 1: Sample
We bring the bottles and instructions, or you collect and drop off. It goes to the lab the same day.
- 02
Step 2: Read
The lab sets how long it takes. When the report comes, we go through it with you, line by line.
- 03
Step 3: Visit
We look at the pressure tank, the plumbing and where a system would go.
- 04
Step 4: Proposal
One written price for the system and the install, before any work.
- 05
Step 5: Retest
A second sample after the system has run, to the same lab, so the result is a number.
Shonda Redmond
Owner and water-treatment lead
Shonda reads the lab reports and writes every proposal herself.
Eight of us work out of the shop on Hall Street: installers, a service coordinator and a bookkeeper, with an independent lab for the analysis. Shonda runs the first call, so the person who explains your report is the person who sizes your system.
She will tell you when the answer is a small filter, and when it is to leave the water alone.
Most of her week
- Iron and manganese
- Softeners
- Acid neutralizers
- Arsenic and uranium planning
How pricing works
Every proposal is written after the lab report and a visit. This is what sits behind the number.
What decides the price
No two wells are alike, so no two systems cost the same.
What the lab found, and how much of it
How much water the household runs at once
Where the system goes, and the drain it needs
Old pipe or a tight room that changes the plumbing
What the estimate includes, and what it doesn't
The proposal names the system, the install, a bypass and a drain connection, and the retest.
Not included: the lab fee, unless the proposal lists it
Not included: pump or pressure-tank repair
Not included: electrical or wall repair, unless listed
What happens at the visit
We look at the pressure tank, the pipe and the room. If there is a visit fee, the proposal says what it is and whether it comes off the work.
After hours
This is planned work, so nobody answers at night and there is no night rate. Leave a message and we call back the next working day. For a burst pipe or flooding, call a plumber who takes night calls.
When you get the number
In writing, after the lab report and the visit, before work starts. One price for the system and install, and a line for anything we cannot see until a wall is open, with how a change gets approved.
Materials and who buys them
We pick the system from your numbers and say why. The proposal names the salt, media or cartridges it uses, how often they change, and where you can buy them.
After the system went in
“We were buying the house with a 10-day window. They had the sample at the lab the same afternoon and walked us through the report before we signed.”
Barry N.Home buyer, Hopkinton
“The retest came back, and she sat down with both sheets next to each other. Black stains on the tub stopped showing up.”
Monica C.Well owner, Loudon
Sample reviews.
Service area
Wells around Concord, on both sides of the river
Concord and the Merrimack County towns around it. If your town is not listed, call before you assume.
Merrimack County
- Concord
- Bow
- Hopkinton
- Pembroke
- Loudon
- Boscawen
- Canterbury
- Chichester
- Dunbarton
- Henniker
- Webster
- Allenstown
- Epsom
- Northfield
- Warner
- Hooksett
Hillsborough County
- Weare
- Goffstown
We do not go to the Lakes Region, the Seacoast or south of Manchester. A local installer will serve you better than a long drive every time the system needs a visit.
ZIP codes: 03301, 03303, 03304, 03229, 03275, 03307
Questions before you send a sample
Do I need a lab test before you quote?
Yes. A quote without a report is a guess, and we would be guessing with your money. If you already have a recent report, send it and we start from that.
Who runs the water test?
An independent water lab. We collect or you drop off, the lab sends the report, and you see the same sheet we do.
What does a visit cost?
The pricing page says what drives the number and when you get it. If a visit has a fee, the proposal says so and says whether it comes off the work.
Do you drill or repair wells?
No. We treat the water once it is in the house. For a pump, a pressure tank or a new well, we work with the people who do that.
Will you promise the water comes out clean?
We promise a retest to the same lab after the system has run. That result, not a promise, is what tells you whether it worked.
Send us the sheet
Send us your lab report
Text a photo of the sheet, or fill this in. If you have not tested yet, say so and we will bring bottles.