Dallas–Fort Worth · Buying guide
How to compare water treatment companies
There are several good water treatment companies in this metroplex. We are not going to tell you we’re the only one. What we will do is answer the six questions a buyer should be asking — so you can hold anyone, including us, to the same six.
The six questions
Our answers on the left. What to ask everyone else on the right.
Print this if it helps. We’d genuinely rather you bought a good system from someone else than a bad one from us.
1. Can you give me a price before you visit?
Honest Water Co
Usually yes. A few questions on a short call is normally enough to give you a complete installed number. If your situation genuinely needs eyes on it — a well, an awkward plumbing run — we'll say so rather than pretend.
Ask anyone else
Ask for a number over the phone before you book anything. A company that will only quote in your living room is telling you something about how the close works.
2. How long is the in-home appointment?
Honest Water Co
The free water test takes about fifteen minutes. We're not there to run a presentation at you.
Ask anyone else
Ask how long to set aside. If the honest answer is three hours, that is a sales process, not a water test.
3. What grain capacity am I being quoted, and why that number?
Honest Water Co
48,000 grains on the Standard, 64,000 on the XL, 96,000 on the Dual Tank. Which one you need comes from your test result and your household size — and we'll tell you which of the three it is and why.
Ask anyone else
Ask for the grain number and the reasoning. 'It's our best system' is not a reason. Also worth knowing: a salt-free conditioner has no grain capacity at all — it prevents scale, it doesn't soften. Anyone quoting you grains on a salt-free unit is confused or hoping you are.
4. What are the components, specifically?
Honest Water Co
USA-made 10% crosslinked softening resin, granular activated coconut-shell carbon, polishing gravel, and the Honest ProValve with ceramic discs and 72-hour memory backup.
Ask anyone else
Ask which resin and which valve, by name. A brand sticker on the tank is not a component list.
5. What does the warranty cover, part by part?
Honest Water Co
Lifetime on tanks, ceramic discs and dry parts. Five years on the control valve, circuit board and media. One year on labor and on the RO system. Our full statement is published as a PDF on this site.
Ask anyone else
Ask for it broken down by component, and ask specifically whether labor is included and for how long. A great many 'lifetime warranties' mean parts only, from day one.
6. What does it cost me after year one?
Honest Water Co
Salt for the brine tank, and RO filter changes annually. We'll give you both figures on the call rather than after you've signed.
Ask anyone else
Ask the annual filter cost and whether there's a trip fee once the first year is up. This is the number that quietly separates a good deal from a bad one over ten years.
One more thing
The industry’s worst habits, named
If you see any of these, it isn’t a red flag about that one salesperson. It’s how that company is built.
The price that drops if you sign tonight
A price that falls by thousands because you hesitated was never the real price. Real pricing doesn't care what day it is.
Testing your water to frighten you
The precipitate demo — where tap water turns orange in a jar — shows dissolved minerals, which is what hard water is. It is not evidence your water is toxic. It's theatre.
'Lifetime warranty' with nothing behind it
Ask which components and whether labor is included. If the answer isn't a table, there isn't one.
Financing quoted as the price
'$97 a month' is not a price, it's a payment. Ask for the cash number and the total you'll pay over the term. Both.
Then go and ask everyone else the same six.
Most homes we can quote right over the phone. Get our number first — it makes every other conversation easier.
Free water test
Find out what's actually in your water
We'll test your water at your kitchen sink, show you the result, and tell you what — if anything — you need. Free, and there's no system that fits every house.
- Free on-site water test
- Free installation
- Lifetime warranty