How long does it take to install a water treatment system from McGowan Water Conditioning?

The cost of a whole-house water filtration or iron removal system can vary depending on the size of your home and the type of contaminants you want to be removed. A good filtration system will remove sediment, iron, nitrates, and other harmful chemicals from your water supply and leave it free of odor and taste. 

(Looking for a “Filtered water option” Contact us today!)

When installing a filtration system, you should have it located near the point of entry where your water comes into your home, whether it is a well or a city supply. This is usually near the water pressure tank or a water meter. 

DNREC encourages homeowners to test their water for contaminants. It offers a free water-test kit to residents who complete a survey following the construction of their new well. 

Many Sussex County residents live too far from a municipality to be served by public utilities, so they use private wells for their drinking water. That means their wells may be contaminated with pollutants such as nitrates, lead, chlorine and other contaminants, according to Gerald Kauffman of the University of Delaware’s Water Resources Center. 

That is why a lot of these communities have to go through a long process before they can be connected to the county’s public water system. That process is complicated, especially if the state claims the community is at risk of contamination from its wells. 

For some communities, like Ellendale, the process to connect to a public water supply can take decades. In Ellendale, it took a referendum in 2018 to get residents to vote to connect their homes to the public sewers that already run through town. 

While some residents of Ellendale voted in support of the referendum, others disagreed with it. They don’t want to give up their wells, even if they aren’t contaminated. They just want access to clean, safe drinking water. 

Getting Connected to Public Water.

The most important hurdle a community has to clear in order to be connected to public water is to gather 50 petitions. Then, they must hold a series of community meetings and engage in a referendum. 

In the meantime, a majority of residents can choose to connect their private wells to the public water system if they feel safe with it. But some neighborhoods, like Frankford in unincorporated Sussex County, have a mixed bag of opinions about the issue. 

The Town of Frankford has a history of pushing for residents to connect their private septic systems to public sewers. But when the community pushed for public sewers several years ago, some residents who lived on the wrong side of a train track said they were forced to hook up and were surprised by what they found.