Well Water Treatment in the Sacramento Valley

What well water treatment comes first?

A certified lab test, because every later choice depends on it. The State Water Board's booklet for domestic well owners recommends testing "for total coliform bacteria, nitrate, and electrical conductivity annually" and minerals, including arsenic, every 5 to 10 years or after significant changes. Find a lab on the State Water Board's certified laboratory list.

Ask for a mineral package with iron, manganese, hardness, pH and arsenic on the first round; the booklet prices that package at $200 to $350. Reports and lab sheets give results in mg/L (ppm) or µg/L (ppb), and a few compounds in ng/L (ppt). Sampling steps and county rules are on private well testing in Sacramento County; Sacramento County's Environmental Management Department permits well construction and repair under its well program.

Public wells nearby hint at what the aquifer holds. Rio Linda/Elverta, which runs on 12 wells, reports arsenic from 3.4 to 10 µg/L and hexavalent chromium averaging 10.6 µg/L; Carmichael's wells show manganese up to 0.085 mg/L. A private well can read differently, which is why the test comes first.

What the tests and limits say

• $100–400Typical cost of basic well-water sampling at a certified labState Water Board GAMA
• 0.3 mg/LIron level above which staining and taste problems startPenn State Extension
• 10 mg/LNitrate limit, measured as nitrogenU.S. EPA
• 9,000 hrTypical UV lamp life, about one year of continuous useUniversity of Georgia Extension

How do you treat iron and manganese?

Match the method to the amount and form, which only the lab report shows. Penn State Extension says both are aesthetic problems, with recommended limits of 0.3 mg/L for iron and 0.05 mg/L for manganese, and that they must be removed from all water entering the home because they stain everything.

Its rules of thumb: a softener can take out dissolved iron below about 5 mg/L when pH is above 6.7; oxidizing filters (manganese greensand or birm) suit combined iron and manganese of about 3 to 10 mg/L; above 10 mg/L, oxidize first and then filter. Birm needs dissolved oxygen and a pH of at least 6.8 for iron.

Air-injection units belong to the oxidizing-filter family. SoftPro lists the Iron Master (sold by SoftPro Water Systems, which shares Levee Line's owners) and Quality Water Treatment the same Iron Master in a 1.5 cubic foot size (sold by Quality Water Treatment, which shares Levee Line's owners), both at $1,517–$1,897 (each store's listed price in October 2026). The stores describe them as using air injection for iron, manganese and hydrogen sulfide, sized by pump gallons per minute, and claim they handle "up to 30 ppm of iron"; that figure is the store's claim, not a certifier's. A rotten-egg smell is hydrogen sulfide, which the state booklet lists as treatable by oxidation, carbon or shock chlorination.

Does well water need a softener?

Only if hardness bothers you; hardness is a scale issue, not a safety one. Sacramento-area wells run from moderate to hard: Rio Linda/Elverta averages 99 mg/L (5.8 gpg) and Sacramento Suburban's south-area wells 130 mg/L (7.6 gpg), with single wells up to 280 mg/L.

Size with the same rule used across this site: gpg × people × roughly 75 gallons each per day (an assumption), aiming for about one regeneration a week. For four people at 130 mg/L (7.6 gpg) that is 7.6 × 4 × 75 ≈ 2,280 grains daily, roughly 16,000 a week, which a 32,000-grain unit covers. The arithmetic is on water softener sizing.

Well softeners are sized by pump flow as well as grains. SoftPro's ECO Well Water Softener (sold by SoftPro Water Systems, which shares Levee Line's owners) lists at $947–$2,977 and Quality Water Treatment's SoftPro Elite for well water at $1,327–$3,367 (listed prices in October 2026). No softener treats bacteria, nitrate, arsenic or chromium 6.

How are bacteria and nitrate treated?

Bacteria first get a shock chlorination and a retest; nitrate gets a point-of-use unit certified for it. Penn State Extension says shock chlorination suits one-time contamination, such as after pump work, and advises retesting for coliform 10 to 14 days later and again two to three months after. If bacteria return, "a continuous disinfection treatment system will be necessary", usually ultraviolet light or chlorination. Bypass softeners and filters during shock chlorination if their manuals say so.

UV units are certified under NSF/ANSI 55, and University of Georgia Extension notes they need clear water: sediment, iron, manganese and hardness all cut the light's effect. Nitrate is different. EPA WaterSense's November 2024 treatment-selection booklet says ordinary filtration "does not remove nitrates"; reverse osmosis, anion exchange or distillation can. The state booklet's advice above 10 mg/L as N is to treat or find another supply. A drinking-tap unit is the usual answer; see reverse osmosis in Sacramento.

In what order do well water treatment stages go?

Sediment out first, then iron and manganese, then hardness, with UV last and any reverse osmosis at the kitchen tap. The logic comes from the sources: Penn State says oxidized iron fouls softener resin, so the iron stage goes ahead of the softener; University of Georgia says UV works best on clear, soft, iron-free water and is "often the last device in the treatment train."

Sand and grit go first because they wear valves and clog media. A spin-down separator is the simplest stage; both stores sell one with a 60-mesh screen, SoftPro's Spin-Down Sediment Filter (sold by SoftPro Water Systems, which shares Levee Line's owners) at $95–$117 and Quality Water Treatment's at $95–$165 (October 2026 listings). It removes sand and grit only.

What does well water treatment cost to run?

The recurring costs are testing, salt, UV lamps and media, not the equipment alone. Annual coliform, nitrate and conductivity tests total roughly $65 to $170 at the state booklet's prices. A UV lamp is due about once a year of continuous use, per University of Georgia.

Salt follows from California's softener efficiency rule of at least 4,000 grains removed per pound: 16,000 grains a week works out to about 4 pounds of salt. Iron filters backwash on a schedule and their media wear out over years; follow the maker's manual. The state booklet's warning applies to all of it: "Improperly maintained systems can cause more damage than having no treatment at all." Retest after any new stage goes in to confirm it does what it should.

Downstream questions

Further down the channel

• Folder: Treatment topics: the full list
• Hardness: Do you need a water softener at all
• Treatment: Chromium 6 and PFAS in local groundwater
• Levee Line home