An under-sink drinking water filter with its own faucet, fitted by licensed plumbers who check the water, the pipe and the drain before the membrane goes in.
A reverse osmosis system finishes the water you drink and cook with: sediment and carbon cartridges, then a membrane that holds back most dissolved minerals and salts, feeding its own faucet from a small tank.
A water test at your Holland Landing address, on the municipal supply or a private well, decides what goes ahead of it. If the test shows hardness or a chlorine taste, the carbon handles the taste and the membrane keeps scale out of the kettle. On a well, any iron, hardness or sulphur the test finds is handled first: iron and hardness shorten membrane life, and sulphur is treated upstream for odour. RO goes last, after well water treatment, and it is no substitute for disinfection.
It treats one tap only. Showers, laundry and the water heater stay as they are.
Reverse osmosis is the last word on drinking water, not the first. Take iron and hardness out upstream and the membrane lasts.
Century homes on Yonge Street North and Holland Landing Road can still have galvanized supply. Its rust plugs an RO sediment cartridge early, so we inspect the cold line back toward the main and quote any repiping of galvanized lines separately.
Toward River Drive Park and the Holland River, basements can take on groundwater in a wet spring, so any tank or tubing we run through the basement is wall-mounted and kept clear of the sump pit.
We fit the same systems in Sharon, Queensville and along the Yonge Street corridor north of Newmarket, confirming each home's water source first.
How a reverse osmosis installation in a Holland Landing kitchen goes, in order.
We test at the kitchen tap and note any softener or filter upstream. On a well we watch the pressure gauge through a pump cycle, since low pressure slows the membrane.
Reject water leaves through the sink drain, so a sluggish kitchen drain is cleared first. The drain saddle goes on the tailpiece above the trap, opposite the dishwasher hose.
A tee with a quarter-turn valve goes onto sound cold pipe, the faucet uses a spare sink hole or a new one in the counter, and low well pressure gets a small booster pump.
The first tank goes to drain to clear carbon fines, each push-fit joint is checked for weeps, and dissolved-solids readings from the RO faucet and the main faucet are shown side by side.
Water, tea and ice from the RO line lose the chlorine or mineral taste your water test flagged, and most of any softener sodium.
Fill it from the RO faucet and white crust stops building inside, even if the rest of the house stays hard.
Glasses and bottles fill without waiting. A stockpot drains the tank, which then needs time to refill.
A brief gurgle while the tank refills is normal, especially with an air-gap faucet. Water trickling to drain nonstop means the shutoff valve needs attention.
Pre-treatment, set by the water test, is the biggest variable: a well needing an iron filter or softener first is a larger job than a kitchen needing RO alone. Then come the number of stages and any remineralizing cartridge, drilling stone or quartz versus an existing hole, fridge line length, a booster pump, corroded pipe at the connection and a basement tank location. The price is agreed in writing before work starts.
Sediment and carbon cartridges shield the membrane. Change them on the schedule set at installation, sooner if the faucet slows or galvanized rust is filling the sediment stage.
A climbing dissolved-solids reading or a flat taste means it is wearing, usually early when hardness or iron reaches it.
A faucet that starts strong and fades quickly has a low air charge. It is topped up with the tank drained; a torn bladder means a new tank.
On a well, the iron filter, softener and any UV lamp need their own upkeep. When one slips, the membrane usually shows it first.
Reverse osmosis serves one drinking tap and is the most thorough of the three. A softener removes hardness everywhere, protecting the heater and fixtures; see water softener installation in Holland Landing. Whole-home water filtration puts sediment and carbon at the main for every tap and shower. A common pairing is a softener for the house and RO at the sink; our reverse osmosis drinking water systems page covers the equipment in depth.
Asked about drinking water filters in village kitchens and on well properties.
AquaTec Plumbing works from Grist Mill Road, serving Holland Landing, Sharon and Queensville.
Book a water test and a look under the sink. The system, and any pipe or pre-treatment work, is priced in writing before we start.
