Whole-house filtration, water softeners, and reverse osmosis — professionally installed across the Hudson Valley, North Jersey, and Lower Fairfield County. Upfront pricing. No high-pressure sales. Ever.
Enter your zip code and we'll show you your area's official water quality reports — plus what we most commonly find in local water.
Every home's water is different. We test first, then recommend only what your water actually needs — nothing more.
Removes chlorine, chloramine, bad taste, odors, and many chemical contaminants from every tap, shower, and appliance in your home.
Eliminates hard-water scale that destroys water heaters, dishwashers, and fixtures — and leaves skin and hair feeling better.
A low-maintenance, salt-free alternative that conditions hard minerals without brine discharge or added sodium.
Under-sink RO delivers ultra-pure water for drinking and cooking, removing lead, PFAS, arsenic, nitrates, and more.
Chemical-free disinfection that neutralizes bacteria, viruses, and cysts — essential for well water and added peace of mind on city water.
Specialized filtration engineered to reduce "forever chemicals" (PFOA/PFOS) — a documented concern in parts of NY and NJ.
Stops orange staining, black residue, and rotten-egg odor — common problems on well water in Dutchess and Orange Counties.
We analyze your water at your kitchen sink, walk you through the results, and give you a straight answer — even if that answer is "you don't need us."
Already have equipment? We service, repair, and maintain most major brands of softeners, filters, and RO systems.
Utilities in NY, NJ, and CT generally meet legal standards — but "legal" doesn't always mean "ideal." These are the contaminants most commonly detected in water systems across our service area, and why they matter.
PFAS are a family of thousands of man-made chemicals used since the 1940s in nonstick cookware, firefighting foam, stain-resistant fabrics, and food packaging. They earned the nickname "forever chemicals" because they don't break down in the environment or in your body — they accumulate in your blood over years. The EPA links PFOA and PFOS to kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid disease, elevated cholesterol, reduced vaccine response in children, and low birth weight, and in 2024 set enforceable limits of just 4 parts per trillion. This is a documented local problem: Newburgh declared a state of emergency in 2016 after PFOS from firefighting foam contaminated its main reservoir, and detections continue in Rockland and Bergen County wells. Utilities are adding treatment, but many homes still see trace levels. Removed by: activated carbon, ion exchange, and reverse osmosis.
Lead almost never comes from the treatment plant — it leaches into water from lead service lines, pre-1986 lead solder, and older brass fixtures on the way to your tap. That means your utility's report can look clean while your own faucet doesn't. Lead is a potent neurotoxin with no safe exposure level: in children it's linked to reduced IQ, learning disabilities, and behavioral problems; in adults, high blood pressure, kidney damage, and reproductive harm. The pre-war housing stock in the Bronx, Yonkers, New Rochelle, Hackensack, and Elizabeth is exactly where lead plumbing is most common — NJ utilities have already replaced thousands of lead lines, with more to go. Removed by: NSF-certified lead filtration and reverse osmosis at the tap.
Utilities add chlorine (and increasingly chloramine, a longer-lasting chlorine-ammonia blend) to kill bacteria and viruses in the pipes — necessary at the plant, but you don't need to drink or shower in it at home. At typical levels they cause the "pool water" taste and smell, dry out skin and hair, aggravate eczema, and can irritate eyes and airways in hot showers where they vaporize. Chloramine is tougher: it stays in water longer, is harder to remove with basic filters, and degrades rubber plumbing components over time. Most importantly, both react with natural organic matter in the water to create disinfection byproducts (see TTHMs and HAAs). Removed by: catalytic activated carbon, whole-house.
TTHMs — chloroform and its chemical cousins — form when chlorine reacts with leaves, soil, and other organic matter in source water. They're volatile, meaning you're exposed not just by drinking but by inhaling steam in the shower and dishwasher. Long-term exposure is associated in epidemiological studies with elevated bladder and colorectal cancer risk, and research has examined links to miscarriage and birth defects. Levels swing seasonally — spiking in warm months — so the annual average on a utility report can hide the peaks. Surface-water systems like NYC's, Aquarion's, and the Hudson River-fed Poughkeepsie system routinely detect them. Removed by: activated carbon filtration.
Haloacetic acids are the other major family of disinfection byproducts, formed the same way as TTHMs when chlorine meets organic material. The EPA regulates five of them (HAA5) at 60 parts per billion, and several are classified as possible or probable human carcinogens based on liver and kidney tumor studies; dermal and reproductive effects are also under study. Like TTHMs, they're nearly universal in chlorinated surface-water systems across our region — legal levels, but rarely zero. Because they form continuously in the distribution pipes, the farther your home is from the plant, the higher your levels can be. Removed by: activated carbon and reverse osmosis.
1,4-dioxane is an industrial solvent stabilizer that also shows up as a trace manufacturing byproduct in detergents, shampoos, and cosmetics — and from there, in wastewater and groundwater. The EPA classifies it as a likely human carcinogen (liver and kidney), and it's a special problem because it dissolves completely in water, doesn't biodegrade readily, and passes straight through conventional treatment. New York responded by setting the nation's first drinking-water limit (1 part per billion), and it's among the most frequently detected emerging contaminants in both NY and NJ systems. Standard carbon filters only partially address it; reverse osmosis reduces it, and utilities use advanced oxidation. We'll tell you honestly what your levels are before recommending anything.
Arsenic occurs naturally in the bedrock that many Hudson Valley wells are drilled through, and legacy orchard pesticides add to it in some areas. It's completely odorless and tasteless — testing is the only way to know it's there. Chronic exposure, even at low levels, is linked to skin, bladder, and lung cancers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and skin lesions; children are especially vulnerable. Public systems must keep arsenic under 10 parts per billion, but private wells in Dutchess, Orange, and northern Westchester are entirely unregulated — no one tests them unless the homeowner does. Removed by: reverse osmosis and specialized adsorption media sized to your well's levels.
Nitrates reach drinking water from fertilizer runoff, failing septic systems, and animal waste, and they infiltrate shallow wells most easily — a real consideration in the agricultural parts of Orange and Dutchess Counties. They're most dangerous for infants under six months: nitrates interfere with the blood's ability to carry oxygen, causing methemoglobinemia ("blue baby syndrome"), which is why the EPA limit is a hard 10 mg/L. Ongoing research also associates long-term exposure with colorectal cancer and thyroid effects in adults. Critically, boiling water makes nitrates worse, not better — it concentrates them. Removed by: reverse osmosis and ion exchange.
Hexavalent chromium — the chemical made famous by the Erin Brockovich case in Hinkley, California — enters water from metal plating, leather tanning, and industrial corrosion inhibitors, and also occurs naturally in some rock. When ingested over long periods it's linked to stomach and intestinal cancer in animal studies, plus liver and reproductive effects. Here's the regulatory gap: the EPA only limits total chromium at 100 parts per billion, while California's public-health scientists calculated a truly protective goal of 0.02 ppb — five thousand times lower. Low-level detections are common across Northeast systems, entirely legal, and entirely removable. Removed by: reverse osmosis and ion exchange.
Hardness minerals dissolve into water as it passes through limestone and dolomite — and much of Rockland, Bergen, and Orange County water runs moderately hard to hard. It's not a health hazard, but it's the single most expensive water problem in a home: scale coats water-heater elements and cuts their efficiency and lifespan, clogs showerheads and aerators, etches spots into glassware, leaves soap scum on everything, and fades laundry. It's also why your skin feels tight and your hair feels coated after a shower — hard minerals react with soap to form a film that never fully rinses. Fixed by: ion-exchange water softeners, or salt-free conditioners where brine discharge is a concern.
Iron and manganese dissolve out of soil and rock into groundwater, which is why they're a signature problem for well owners in Dutchess and Orange Counties. Iron announces itself with orange-brown stains on tubs, toilets, and laundry and a metallic taste; manganese leaves black slime in toilet tanks and dark residue on fixtures. Beyond the cosmetic damage, this matters for health: a growing body of research links elevated long-term manganese exposure to neurological and developmental effects in children, and the EPA has issued a health advisory for it. Iron bacteria can also colonize wells and plumbing, causing odor and clogging. Removed by: air-injection oxidation filters for higher levels, softeners for trace amounts.
Volatile organic compounds — solvents like TCE and PCE from dry cleaners and industry, benzene and MTBE from fuel spills — turn up in groundwater across the industrialized Northeast, and several are known or suspected carcinogens. Because they're volatile, hot showers turn them into vapor you inhale. Microplastics are the newest concern: microscopic plastic fragments now detected in the majority of tap water sampled worldwide, with early research examining inflammatory and hormonal effects — definitive answers are years away, but the particles are filterable today. Both categories pass through municipal treatment largely untouched. Removed by: carbon block filtration and reverse osmosis.
Local, family-owned, and in your neighborhood — from the Hudson Valley to North Jersey to Connecticut's Gold Coast.
Simple, transparent, and on your schedule.
We analyze your water at your tap and review your utility's latest report with you.
You get an honest recommendation and a firm, upfront price. No games.
Licensed installation, usually completed in a single day, with a clean workspace.
Filter changes, maintenance reminders, and a real person when you call.
Water treatment has a reputation problem: 4-hour in-home sales pitches, scare tactics, and prices that change depending on how you negotiate. We built Total House Water Co. to be the opposite.
We install systems built with components certified to NSF/ANSI standards — 42 (chlorine, taste & odor), 53 (health contaminants like lead and cysts), 58 (reverse osmosis), and 44 (softeners). Certification means the removal claims are independently verified, not marketing.
The price we quote is the price you pay. No "today-only" discounts, no commission games, no surprise add-ons on install day. Financing options are available on whole-house systems.
Every install is done to code by licensed, insured professionals — including proper drain connections, bypass valves, and permits where required. We leave your home as clean as we found it.
We size systems to your actual water analysis and household — not to a sales quota. If your water only needs a $300 fix, that's what we'll tell you. If it needs nothing, we'll tell you that too.
Straight answers to the questions we hear most.
Meeting legal limits isn't the same as zero contaminants. Reports across our area routinely show detectable PFAS, disinfection byproducts, chromium-6, and more at levels below the legal maximum. Filtration is about choosing a higher standard for your family — and about the things standards don't cover, like hardness, taste, chlorine, and aging pipes between the plant and your tap.
Yes. Much of Dutchess and Orange Counties (and parts of Rockland and Bergen) rely on private wells, which aren't regulated by the EPA at all. We test for iron, manganese, sulfur, hardness, bacteria, arsenic, and nitrates and build a treatment plan around your results.
It depends entirely on your water and your home — which is why we test first and quote a firm, upfront price before any work begins. No commission games, no 4-hour in-home sales pitches.
Yes — financing options are available on whole-house systems, so you can spread the cost into manageable monthly payments. Ask when you call and we'll walk you through what's available.
Most whole-house systems and softeners are installed in a single day. Under-sink RO systems usually take 1–2 hours.
Rockland, Westchester, Dutchess, and Orange Counties and the Bronx in New York; Bergen and Union Counties in New Jersey; and Lower Fairfield County, Connecticut (Stamford down to the NY border). Not sure? Call us at (914) 318-4828.
Book an in-home water analysis. We'll show you exactly what's coming out of your tap — and give you a firm, upfront price to fix it.
☎ Call (914) 318-4828 Request a QuoteTell us about your water and we'll get back to you with a firm, upfront quote — no pressure, no games.