Equipment checklist
What to test before you buy treatment
Tell us what you notice. The list below is catalog equipment that matches those symptoms. It is not a hardness reading and not a well-depth figure. Each price shown is that merchant's list price; Amazon.ca items show no price and link to Amazon for the current one. This page does not add them into an installed total: the old total used 75 US gallons per person per day and a 15–25% install adder, and those are not from a cited price list.
What do you notice?
Catalog tier
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Water Testing
Tap Score Canadian Essential Water Test
A laboratory panel is the measurement. This page does not estimate hardness, iron, or bacteria.
Merchant list price: $382 CAD. That is the merchant's listed price, not an installed cost.
If you do not see the symptom yet, start with the laboratory test. A municipal page shows a hardness range only when a published study covers that place and aquifer, and it does not show a drilling price. This checklist does not turn either one into a total.
Before you choose equipment
Choosing well-water treatment
Private well water is not treated or tested for you, so the first step is a laboratory panel from an accredited lab. Symptoms such as scale, staining, a rotten-egg smell, grit, a bad taste, or a past coliform result are reasons to test. They do not tell you which equipment you need.
Treatment is usually built as a train, with each stage protecting the next: sediment prefilter first, then iron, manganese, and sulfur oxidation, then softening, then disinfection or drinking-water reverse osmosis if the lab result calls for it. Equipment is sized from your lab sheet and the advice of a driller or plumber who has seen the well, not from a regional summary.
The checklist above matches the symptoms you tick to catalog equipment. The filtration guide explains each stage, and the methodology page explains what the municipal pages do and do not show.
Where to start in your province
Each provincial directory is compiled from that province's public well registry. Open your province, find your municipality, and read the registry records for your area, then confirm the water itself with a laboratory test.
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Manitoba
Municipal pages draw on GWDrill.
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Saskatchewan
Municipal pages draw on Water Security Agency water well records.
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Alberta
Municipal pages draw on Alberta Water Well Information Database (AWWID).
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Ontario
Municipal pages draw on Water Well Information System (WWIS).
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British Columbia
Municipal pages draw on GWELLS.
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
How does the checklist choose equipment?
It matches the symptoms you tick to a catalog category and a budget, standard, or premium tier. It does not read a municipal hardness, depth, or well age, and it does not total a cost.
Where do hardness and drilling cost come from?
Not from this checklist. A municipal page shows a hardness range only when a published study covers that place and aquifer. It does not show a drilling price. The citations are on the methodology page. A laboratory test and a driller's quote are the measurement and the price. This checklist does not total an installed cost.
Can I start from a filtration problem instead?
Yes. Open a problem guide such as hard water or iron staining, then come back to the checklist. The guide describes the problem. It does not assign a hardness number to a municipality.
Does the checklist sell equipment directly?
No. It points at catalog products. Amazon, Waterdrop, and Crystal Quest links are affiliate links, disclosed on the site. Other merchant links are not affiliate links. Purchases happen with the merchant.
What if my well is different from a municipal summary?
A municipal page, when it has data, describes records for the area, not your borehole. Size equipment from your lab sheet and a driller or plumber who has seen the well.
What should I do before buying treatment equipment?
Get a laboratory test from an accredited lab. Symptoms such as scale, staining, odour, grit, taste, or a past coliform result are reasons to test. The lab result, not the symptom, decides which stages you need.
In what order is well-water treatment usually built?
As a train where each stage protects the next: sediment prefilter, then iron, manganese, and sulfur oxidation, then softening, then disinfection or drinking-water reverse osmosis if the lab result calls for it.
Does the checklist change from one province to another?
No. The symptom checklist is the same everywhere. What differs by province is the public well registry behind each municipal page, which the methodology page lists, and the local contractors you would call.