Water Softeners & Filtration in Johns Creek, GA

Is a softener actually needed in Johns Creek?

Nobody can say without a test, because Fulton County's water quality report doesn't list a hardness figure. The supply is Chattahoochee River water, treated at the Tom Lowe Atlanta-Fulton County Water Treatment Plant, which happens to sit in Johns Creek. A plumber can check hardness at a cold tap in minutes. If the number comes back low, skip the softener. If fixtures and the water heater are scaling up, a softener sized to measured hardness and your household's daily use makes sense.

About two thirds of Johns Creek homes were built between 1980 and 1999, so many original water heaters and fixtures are decades old. Scale on an old heater may be long-standing, and adding a softener now won't reverse it, though it can slow new buildup if hardness is there.

What about the chlorine taste?

Fulton County disinfects with chlorine and adds fluoride. Chlorine is what most people taste and smell at the sink. A whole-house carbon filter on the main reduces it at every tap; a smaller carbon unit under the kitchen sink handles drinking and cooking water only. Neither one softens water. Fluoride is not removed by ordinary carbon; reverse osmosis is the usual choice for households that want it reduced.

Does a treatment install need a city permit?

The City of Johns Creek requires a Trade Permit for any plumbing system work, applied for through its Customer Self-Service portal. Cutting a softener or whole-house filter into the main line is plumbing work, so ask the plumber how the permit will be handled. A point-of-use filter that screws onto a faucet is a different story. Fulton County owns the line from the main to the meter; the line from the meter to the house, where whole-house equipment goes, belongs to the owner.

A note on service lines

Fulton County published a lead service line inventory and lets residents check or report their line's material at fcpwleadcopper.com. If you are adding filtration because of lead worries, look up your line first and ask about a filter certified for lead at the kitchen tap.