Water Softener in Brandywine, MD

When you call

You'll be connected with an independent plumber who serves Brandywine. Tell them whether you receive a WSSC bill or have your own well, how many people live in the home, and what you are noticing: scale, staining, odor, or a softener that has stopped working. Owners of the many homes built since 2010 often have a builder-installed loop in the garage or basement, which makes adding a softener simpler. Older homes from the 1950s and 1960s may need more pipe work.

What shapes the cost

• Water source and test results: a well may need iron or sediment treatment as well
• Hardness and household size, which set the unit's capacity
• Whether a softener loop already exists
• Drain access for regeneration, and whether the home is on public sewer
• Pump and pressure tank condition on well systems
• Haul-away of any old treatment equipment

Brandywine conditions

Brandywine is mostly rural land in the county's rural tier with a suburban and commercial center along US 301 and MD 5 that grew quickly after 2000, including Brandywine Crossing and new subdivisions. More than half its housing units were built since 2010, with a pocket of 1950s and 1960s homes. Prince George's County's water and sewer plan says WSSC supplies water from the Potomac and Patuxent rivers and that rural areas are served by individual wells.

If you are on WSSC, the water is chlorinated, UV-treated at the plants and dosed with orthophosphate. WSSC's report doesn't give a hardness figure for Brandywine, so a tap test is the way to size a softener. On a private well, have the water tested for hardness, iron, manganese, pH and bacteria before buying anything; the results decide whether you need a softener, a filter, or both, and in what order.

Where a home is not on municipal sewer, ask how the regeneration water will be handled. WSSC issues plumbing permits and inspections across Prince George's County, including homes on wells.

Before the plumber arrives

• Find your latest water bill or well test results
• Clear space around the main shutoff or pressure tank
• Note any staining or odor and which taps show it
• Put a leaking softener in bypass