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Pakenham, VIC, servicing within 75 kmOpen Mon–Fri · 8:00 am – 4:00 pmABN 35 607 575 280 · Plumbing Lic. 46828
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Puretec & BWT · installed by licensed plumbers

Water filtration, done at the right point in the house.

Whole house on the incoming main is the one that changes the most for the most people. The other four solve narrower problems, and which one you want depends entirely on what you’ve actually noticed.

Get a filtration quote →Or talk it through
  • Puretec & BWTCartridges you can actually get
  • Licensed plumbersBackflow protection done properly
  • 6-year workmanshipSame warranty as everything else we fit
  • Tank & rainwaterFiltration plus UV through the hills
First, the honest part

What’s actually in Melbourne water.

Plenty of filtration gets sold on vague worry. We’d rather you bought one knowing exactly what it changes. Melbourne has some of the best mains water of any major city, and it is genuinely soft. Here is what filtration is and isn’t for.

Chlorine. Melbourne's mains water is disinfected before it reaches you, which is a good thing and not something to be frightened of. It's also the reason the water tastes and smells the way it does, and the reason some people find it drying on skin and hair. What handles it: An activated carbon stage. This is the one people notice immediately, because taste and smell change the day it goes in.

Five ways to treat it

Whole house first, then the rest.

Whole-house filtration on the incoming main is the one that changes the most for the most people, so start there. The others solve narrower problems, and most households only need one of them.

Puretec Filterwall whole-house filtration enclosure mounted on a fence

Whole home

Every tap, shower and appliance in the house

Fits: On the incoming water main, before it splits off to anything else

One unit on the water main, filtering everything that enters the house. The shower, the washing machine, the dishwasher and the hot water system all run on filtered water rather than just the kitchen tap.

  • Chlorine taste and smell, everywhere in the house rather than at one tap
  • Sediment, rust, silt and grit, including the burst of it that follows mains work in the street
  • Discolouration and cloudiness
Whole home filtration →
Puretec inline filter plumbed into a wall with brass isolation valves

Hot water protection

Keeps sediment out of the most expensive appliance in the house

Fits: On the cold water line feeding your hot water system

A filter on the cold feed into your hot water system, so sediment stops at the cartridge instead of settling in the tank or blocking a continuous-flow heat exchanger.

  • Sediment, rust and silt before it reaches the tank
  • The grit that follows mains work in the street, which otherwise goes straight into your hot water
  • The build-up that insulates a storage element from the water around it
Protect my hot water system →
Puretec twin undersink filter system with a dedicated filtered tap

Under sink

Filtered drinking water at the kitchen tap

Fits: In the cupboard under the kitchen sink, feeding a dedicated tap or a three-way mixer

A filter under the kitchen sink feeding either a small dedicated tap or a three-way mixer. Filtered drinking water without a jug in the fridge or a case of bottles in the boot.

  • Chlorine taste and odour, at a finer level than a whole-home housing can practically manage
  • Sediment and particulates in drinking water
  • The reason you're currently buying bottled water or refilling a jug
Under sink filtration →
Diagram: On the incoming main, with a brine tank beside it and a drain for the regeneration flush

Water softeners

For hard water — which, on Melbourne mains, you probably haven't got

Fits: On the incoming main, with a brine tank beside it and a drain for the regeneration flush

An ion-exchange softener swaps the calcium and magnesium that cause scale for sodium. It is the right answer on bore water and the wrong answer on most Melbourne mains connections, and we will tell you which one you are.

  • Hardness — the dissolved calcium and magnesium that form scale
  • Scale build-up in kettles, shower screens, taps and tiles
  • Scale inside hot water systems and dishwashers, which is where it costs real money
Do I need a softener? →
Diagram: Between the tank pump and the house, filters first and the UV lamp last

Rainwater & tank

Filtration plus UV, for the properties on tank water

Fits: Between the tank pump and the house, filters first and the UV lamp last

Rainwater collects off a roof, and a roof has birds, leaves and dust on it. Filtration handles the sediment and organics, UV handles the biological side, and the order they go in is not negotiable.

  • Sediment, grit, leaf matter and roof debris carried in from the tank
  • Organics that give tank water its taste and colour
  • The biological side — bacteria, protozoa and cysts — through the UV stage
Tank water filtration →

Or see the full range and exactly what each type removes →

Side by side

The five, compared.

Read the last column first. It’s the one that tells you which row you’re actually in.

TypeWhere it fitsWhat it coversWhat it handlesServicingPick it when
Whole houseStart hereIncoming mainEvery tap, shower and applianceSediment · chlorine · tasteCartridges ~12 monthsChlorine smell in the shower, grit anywhere, or tank water
Hot water protectionCold inlet to the hot water unitThe hot water system onlySedimentOne cartridge, at your annual serviceProtecting a new heat pump, tank or continuous flow
Under sinkCupboard under the kitchen sinkOne tap, plus the fridge if it's closeSediment · chlorine · taste · lead · cystCartridge ~12 monthsIt's the drinking water you don't like
Water softenerIncoming main, with a brine tankEvery tap and applianceHardness onlySalt as it's usedBore water. On Melbourne mains you almost certainly don't need one
Rainwater & tankBetween the tank pump and the houseWhatever the tank feedsSediment · organics · bacteria (UV)Cartridges more often · UV lamp yearlyYou're on tank water and somebody drinks it

The deep version: six product families against ten contaminants →

How a whole-home unit is built

Stages, in the order the water meets them.

1

Sediment

A physical filter that catches rust, silt, grit and dirt. First in line, because it protects the stages behind it and stops them clogging early.

2

Carbon

Activated carbon that takes out chlorine, taste and odour. This is the stage you can taste the difference from.

3

UV, where it's needed

Tank and rainwater properties only. Ultraviolet light handles the biological side, and it goes last because it needs clear water to work through.

Order matters and it isn’t arbitrary. Sediment goes first so it doesn’t clog the carbon behind it. UV goes last because ultraviolet light can’t work through cloudy water — a UV lamp fitted ahead of the filters is a lamp doing very little.

How the job runs

From “the water tastes funny” to installed.

  1. 1

    Tell us what you've noticed

    Taste, smell, grit, cloudy water, dry skin, or just a general feeling that you'd rather not drink it straight. What you've noticed is the most useful diagnostic there is, and it usually points straight at which of the three is right.

    ~ 5 min
  2. 2

    We look at the water and the plumbing

    Mains or tank, what the pressure is doing, where the main comes in, and whether the cupboard under the sink has any room in it. On tank water we want to know about the roof and the tank as well, because that changes whether UV is warranted.

    at the quote
  3. 3

    A quote with the honest recommendation in it

    Including when the answer is a cheaper unit than you asked about, or nothing at all. If your complaint is drinking water and you were about to buy whole-home filtration, we'd rather tell you that than take the bigger job.

    within 12 hrs
  4. 4

    Installed by a licensed plumber

    Not a handyman with a spanner. Filtration ties into your potable water supply, which means backflow protection and doing it to the standard. Same six-year workmanship warranty as anything else we fit.

    install day
  5. 5

    Shown how to change the cartridge

    On handover, on your unit, with you holding it. It's a ten-minute job once a year and there is no reason you should be paying anyone to come out and do it.

    on handover
No pricing published yet

Tell us what you’ve noticed.

What the right unit costs depends on your water, your pressure and where it physically has to go. A “from $X” with none of that behind it is bait.

  • ✓ Taste, smell, grit, dry skin, tank water — the symptom is the useful part
  • ✓ A real figure with the reasoning attached
  • ✓ Including the times the answer is a cheaper unit, or nothing at all

Licensed plumbers · backflow protection to standard · 6-year workmanship warranty.

Step 1 of 4 · 25% complete
What do you need installed?

Takes under 60 seconds. No obligation.

Straight answers

The questions people actually ask.

Still want a human? Call (03) 5947 8000.

Which water filter do I actually need?

Work backwards from what you've noticed. Taste in your drinking water only, under-sink. Chlorine smell in the shower, grit in the cistern, or tank water, whole home. Protecting a new hot water system, the cold inlet filter. If you're not sure, tell us the symptom and we'll tell you which one addresses it — including when the answer is none of them.

Is Melbourne water bad?

No, and we're not going to pretend otherwise to sell a filter. Melbourne has some of the best mains water of any major city and it's genuinely soft, which means scale isn't the problem here it is elsewhere. What filtration changes is chlorine taste and smell, sediment, and the protection of your appliances. That's worth doing for plenty of households. It isn't a health emergency.

Do I need a water softener?

Almost certainly not on Melbourne mains water. It's soft already. Softeners get sold into this market on the back of advertising written for harder-water countries. If you're on bore water it's a genuine question and a different bit of equipment, and we'll say so.

Why Puretec?

It's an Australian brand with a range deep enough to actually match the unit to your water rather than fitting whatever's in the van, and the cartridges are easy to get, which matters more than it sounds. A filter you can't get a cartridge for in a hurry stops being a filter.

Can a handyman install this?

They shouldn't. Filtration ties into your potable water supply, which brings backflow protection into it, and getting that wrong contaminates the thing you were trying to clean up. It's licensed plumbing work and we do it as licensed plumbing work.

How much does water filtration cost?

We're not publishing prices on these yet, because the right answer depends on your water, your pressure and where the unit has to go, and a number on a page with none of that behind it is just bait. Ask for a quote and you'll get a real figure with the recommendation explained.

What locals say

Reviews from households across the south-east.

4.9 / 5 on Google
★★★★★

Quoted Mon, installed Fri

“Took the old gas Rinnai out, dropped in a Reclaim heat pump, sorted the VEU rebate so it came straight off the price. Bloke on the phone is the bloke on the tools, refreshing.”

JM
Jess M.Pakenham · heat pump install
★★★★★

Rebate handled, didn't lift a finger

“The VEU paperwork looked scary online. They filled it all in, I signed once at the quote and once on the day. Rebate was already in the price. Painless.”

LM
Lauren M.Pakenham · heat pump swap
★★★★★

No surprises on the invoice

“Quote number matched the invoice exactly. No 'we hit unexpected wiring' story at the end. Nice change.”

PS
Priya S.Cranbourne · split install
★★★★★

Split install in half a day

“Bedroom Mitsubishi went in before lunch. Neat pipework, brackets straight, temp checked before they left. Would use again for the lounge.”

AP
Alex P.Cranbourne East · split
★★★★★

Quoted Mon, installed Fri

“Took the old gas Rinnai out, dropped in a Reclaim heat pump, sorted the VEU rebate so it came straight off the price. Bloke on the phone is the bloke on the tools, refreshing.”

JM
Jess M.Pakenham · heat pump install
★★★★★

Rebate handled, didn't lift a finger

“The VEU paperwork looked scary online. They filled it all in, I signed once at the quote and once on the day. Rebate was already in the price. Painless.”

LM
Lauren M.Pakenham · heat pump swap
★★★★★

No surprises on the invoice

“Quote number matched the invoice exactly. No 'we hit unexpected wiring' story at the end. Nice change.”

PS
Priya S.Cranbourne · split install
★★★★★

Split install in half a day

“Bedroom Mitsubishi went in before lunch. Neat pipework, brackets straight, temp checked before they left. Would use again for the lounge.”

AP
Alex P.Cranbourne East · split
★★★★★

Family business, feels it

“Answered the phone myself, quoted the job, showed up to install the job. That trail of trust doesn't exist with most of the bigger mobs anymore.”

TH
Tom H.Narre Warren · heat pump
★★★★★

Emergency sorted Sunday

“Hot water died on a Sunday with three kids in the house. Answered the phone, had a temp loaner running by lunch, new iStore in on Tuesday. That's service.”

SK
Sam K.Berwick · emergency hot water
★★★★★

Follow-up call was a surprise

“A week after install they rang to check the heat pump was running quiet and the app was set up. First tradie who's ever followed up after payment cleared.”

ND
Nick D.Beaconsfield · heat pump
★★★★★

Family business, feels it

“Answered the phone myself, quoted the job, showed up to install the job. That trail of trust doesn't exist with most of the bigger mobs anymore.”

TH
Tom H.Narre Warren · heat pump
★★★★★

Emergency sorted Sunday

“Hot water died on a Sunday with three kids in the house. Answered the phone, had a temp loaner running by lunch, new iStore in on Tuesday. That's service.”

SK
Sam K.Berwick · emergency hot water
★★★★★

Follow-up call was a surprise

“A week after install they rang to check the heat pump was running quiet and the app was set up. First tradie who's ever followed up after payment cleared.”

ND
Nick D.Beaconsfield · heat pump
★★★★★

Actually got up in the roof

“Had three quotes for a ducted system. These guys were the only ones who actually crawled into the roof. Middle of the pack on price but installed cleaner than the others would have.”

DR
Dean R.Officer · ducted retrofit
★★★★★

Cleaned up like nothing happened

“Full ducted retrofit over two days. When they left the roof cavity was tidier than they found it and the driveway had been swept. Small thing but it matters.”

BR
Bianca R.Berwick · ducted install
★★★★★

Explained everything

“Walked me through the Milieu tablet, showed the wife how to use it, showed us the compliance cert. Ten minutes of teaching that other installers just skip.”

MT
Marcus T.Officer · ducted aircon
★★★★★

Actually got up in the roof

“Had three quotes for a ducted system. These guys were the only ones who actually crawled into the roof. Middle of the pack on price but installed cleaner than the others would have.”

DR
Dean R.Officer · ducted retrofit
★★★★★

Cleaned up like nothing happened

“Full ducted retrofit over two days. When they left the roof cavity was tidier than they found it and the driveway had been swept. Small thing but it matters.”

BR
Bianca R.Berwick · ducted install
★★★★★

Explained everything

“Walked me through the Milieu tablet, showed the wife how to use it, showed us the compliance cert. Ten minutes of teaching that other installers just skip.”

MT
Marcus T.Officer · ducted aircon
Call the team(03) 5947 8000Free quote →